On E List of Movie Reviews

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Empire (2002)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 9/23

Empe
9/23: Despite showing a bit of style, Empire is a cheesy, low-budget gangster picture.

Recently, I saw Blue Hill Avenue and said, "I've seen this a hundred times before." Here I go again now. The story is the same: a group of wannabe gangsters had gotten into the drug trade and became successful, and now, one of them wants to retire for good. Along the way, problems occur.

This time, there's a twist: the gang leader gets scammed by a white-collar criminal. I knew it from the beginning. Why does a moron like Victor Rosa would know a thing about investments? He just liked the sound of the impossible returns: 100%, 200%, 300%, etc., in months. Riiiiight. Of course, he pays the price for his idiocy, and the end.

The acting is okay for the most part, but John Leguizamo is no actor. Wearing stupid clothes, Denise Richards' character is thankfully shot in the head, but it's too late anyway. According to Wikipedia, the director said, "His film is different from other gangster films, such as Scarface and Blood In, Blood Out, because it is directed by a Latino." Um...not good enough; affirmative action doesn't mean a thing when it comes to quality.

All in all, Empire tries to reinvent the wheel but comes up empty.