The French Connection II
Popeye Doyle is back and better than ever as the tough cop trying to take down drug smuggling by going to the heart of his problem tracking Alain Charnier into France.
Film making 21/25
Cinematography 21/25
Audio 22/25
Bonus Features 20/25
Total 84/100
The French Connection II is a great film but not quite up to the first films great acting and all around well made movie with plenty of gritty and real life experience. The film continues right after the first one with Alain Charnier getting away from Doyle at the big drug takedown and fleeing back to France.
We find Doyle arriving in Marseilles France to help the French police in finding Charnier but the first scene in the film is hilarious. The opening scene of Doyle coming to the French police station has the policemen tearing into pallet loads of fish while fishermen scream on in protest.
It seems someone’s idea of an April fool’s joke was to tip the police that some drugs where in a fish catch so the police confiscated a bunch of fish and have to search it all. Doyle meets French police inspector Barthelmy who dislikes him from the start but agrees to cooperate with him to help the investigation.
Doyle is shown a desk next to the bathroom at the top of the stairs for his use that is crammed into the corner on the landing, not the welcome Doyle was hoping for. The French are also trying to apprehend Charnier but in their own fashion but Doyle just wants to cut corners and do things his own way.
When the French police raid a drug smuggling operation Doyle is told to stay behind the inspector and not do anything. During the confusion of the raid Doyle sees a man flee and takes off in pursuit only to find out that the French let him go because he is an undercover agent.
When Doyle lets him go with the French police standing around the undercover man walks down the street only to be knifed by people who saw the whole incident. Doyle is blamed for the man’s death but continues to be a part of the investigation from the insistence of the people higher in command.
When they get nowhere trying to find Charnier with the French police Doyle slips from the tail the police have put on him and finds the Frenchman only to be caught by his men. They take him to their hideout and drug him with heroin trying to find out what he knows about the smuggling operation.
When Doyle tells them the little he does know Charnier is surprised he does know so little and lets him go with a large dose of heroin hoping to kill him. After being tossed out of a moving car in front of the police station the police have a doctor do some quick medical work to save Doyle from the overdose.
The police and inspector Barthelmy have been looking for Doyle for three weeks to no avail and the inspector feels responsible for his well being so he takes the drug crazed Doyle to a cell to dry him out. To keep records of a hospital stay out of Doyle’s files and so he does not get into trouble when he returns to America Doyle is held in the jail to detox and get cleaned up.
Through the grueling withdrawal from heroin Doyle is helped by Barthelmy to get the drugs out of his system and sober up from the addiction. Barthelmy with the help of Doyle track down Charnier but he almost gets away on a yacht but Doyle chases him down and shoots him from shore.
The French Connection II is a great film and like one review said this is a sorely overlooked film with a great performance by several people. It would seem at the time of filming the movie was still in the shadow of the first film but it still did well and the acting by Gene Hackman was another stellar performance.
The film adds a nice touch to the cop who is not all perfect scenario with Doyle getting doped up on heroin and taking it all in stride. The French Connection II is about as well made as the first but does lack a little of the first films grittiness and real world drama.
The Blu-ray edition does contain some extras but not nearly the quantity of the first films extra disc of content with only one disc for the movie and extras. There is one commentary track by Director John Frankenheimer and another by Gene Hackman and Producer Robert Rosen as well as a few extras.
The film has some still galleries, a DTS score track for the film and a couple of features with Gene Hackman and John Frankenheimer that are worth watching at least once. While there is not all that many extras the commentaries are nice to get a perspective of this film compared with the first and how they continued the same story so closely from the end of the first film.
The French Connection II is a nice movie to watch right after the first film in a kind of double feature for a great night of entertainment. The French Connection II is a great film and well worth the cost for the Blu-ray edition as well as a great sequel to the first film.