Unnecessary you could say. However film-maker John Frankenheimer's follow-up to William Friedkin's 70s classic "The French Connection" is a gripping, gritty and powerful crime thriller that fittingly complements its predecessor thanks largely to Gene Hackman and Fernando Ray reprising their larger-than-life roles.
Where as the action took place in New York for the original, in the sequel it finds the hard-nosed New York detective Popeye Doyle in Marseilles on the trail of heroin French kingpin Alain Charnier who got away from Doyle's original New York bust. What occur are basic fish-out- water scenarios (lost in translation) during the opening stages for the foul-mouthed Doyle and he's even getting on the nerves of the local authorities he's working with (led by a prefect Bernard Fresson). But the story does go down a dark path when Doyle is kidnapped and forced into taking heroine in an attempt to find out what he knows. He becomes a junkie, where the local police find him and isolate him so he can go through cold-turkey withdrawals. Breaking the habit and learning the real truth why he was sent to Marseillies makes it real personal for Doyle, to the point of going beyond the law for payback. Here it becomes merciless and ugly. Watching the scenes involving the withdrawal is punishing even if it goes on for a little too long. What does it wonders is the barnstorming performance of Hackman, adding more personality and complexity to a signature grizzled character. Because he goes through a whole lot more. The story could have just repeated what had gone before it, but instead it's completely novel in its depiction of man's dangerous addiction to getting his man. The script is taut, but can be crude and enduring.
Director Frankenheimer's intimate styling gets up and personal giving it a realistic edge and plenty of local colour with a real sense of detail for the seedy side of things. The camera-work has a kinetic-like touch, capturing the exhausting action with creative POV shots. When it came to the action and surveillance set-pieces, they're pulsating and biting (namely the foot-chases) in its suspense with moments of red paint being splashed about. Some scenes probably could be tighter, but it never loses interest or impact.
"French Connection II" is straight-up a raw, hard-hitting sequel with an appropriate sudden ending.
"Look at my hat"!
Where as the action took place in New York for the original, in the sequel it finds the hard-nosed New York detective Popeye Doyle in Marseilles on the trail of heroin French kingpin Alain Charnier who got away from Doyle's original New York bust. What occur are basic fish-out- water scenarios (lost in translation) during the opening stages for the foul-mouthed Doyle and he's even getting on the nerves of the local authorities he's working with (led by a prefect Bernard Fresson). But the story does go down a dark path when Doyle is kidnapped and forced into taking heroine in an attempt to find out what he knows. He becomes a junkie, where the local police find him and isolate him so he can go through cold-turkey withdrawals. Breaking the habit and learning the real truth why he was sent to Marseillies makes it real personal for Doyle, to the point of going beyond the law for payback. Here it becomes merciless and ugly. Watching the scenes involving the withdrawal is punishing even if it goes on for a little too long. What does it wonders is the barnstorming performance of Hackman, adding more personality and complexity to a signature grizzled character. Because he goes through a whole lot more. The story could have just repeated what had gone before it, but instead it's completely novel in its depiction of man's dangerous addiction to getting his man. The script is taut, but can be crude and enduring.
Director Frankenheimer's intimate styling gets up and personal giving it a realistic edge and plenty of local colour with a real sense of detail for the seedy side of things. The camera-work has a kinetic-like touch, capturing the exhausting action with creative POV shots. When it came to the action and surveillance set-pieces, they're pulsating and biting (namely the foot-chases) in its suspense with moments of red paint being splashed about. Some scenes probably could be tighter, but it never loses interest or impact.
"French Connection II" is straight-up a raw, hard-hitting sequel with an appropriate sudden ending.
"Look at my hat"!