In 1999, ultra-violence was the opportunity for Jan Kounen, a mediocre French director, to create some hype around his first full-length movie.Dobermann (young Vincent Cassel) is a gangster with his team of crazy violent sidekicks. He is engaging in a new series of bank robbery, but he has to confront with a brigade of tuff policemen. One of these cops (Tchéky Karyo) has fascist methods, using torture as an investigation mean.The cinematography is hideous : the color balance is outrageous, and the wardrobe and hairdresser director should be fired. Kounen wants to prove his mastery of cinematography, and the film is a mixbag of every idea he has stolen from the classics : split-screen, slow-motion, stroboscopic effects, muted audio track, wide angle camera, Hitchcock's dolly zoom. But the final mix is like a cocktail of chocolate, vodka and ketchup : you just want to vomit.Unfortunately, the film is totally wasted. The characters are so stupid you don't know if you should laugh at them, or at the pretentious director who created them. Dobermann himself is supposed to be impressive, but he has no impact on script, close to being transparent.Jan Kounen might have wanted to create a kind of pamphlet about police and how cops can sometimes act worse than criminals... but Doberman is more like the non-sense of a 7-year-old kid who has smoke weed.

The plot is simple, Dobermann and band of bank robbers are hunted by the police as they plan and execute a robbery. What they don't count on is that a crazed policeman is on their tail and will stop at nothing to stop them. The dialog is witty, the film making flashy, and the violence is brutal. So why don't I like this more? Lets face it this film exists simply to look cool and so the film makers could shoot things. The film looks great and the gunfights and the action sequences are mind blowing, the problem is that despite some witty dialog the film is rather dull when things aren't being blown up. I got to a point where I was reaching for the remote to get to speed to the next bit of action. Thats not a good sign.Should you see this movie? If you like big action sequences with lots of guns blazing, absolutely. You might also want to check this out to see one of the great screen villains as represented by the crazed cop who is hunting the gang. He will stop at nothing to get his man including giving a grenade to a baby.6 out of 10, great action and style takes the place of plot and character development.

For fans of extreme cinema, Dobermann is almost a must-a good blend of violence, style, and craziness with a thumping soundtrack and over-the-top acting and set-pieces. It lacks the edge that other 'extreme' movies have, and is devoid of any compassion, but on the other hand does not go far enough to disturb the audience. A good cast does well, particularly Cassell and Karyo as the respective robber and cop, but at times the mashing together of genres does not work completely.Cassell stars as Dobermann, a man with a penchant for violence ever since his birth. He is the boss of a notorious gang of misfit robbers who have been preying on Paris for years. His nemesis is Cristini, a cop whose sadistic nature means he abuses his power and position and will stop at nothing to catch Dobermann and his mates. After a large heist with suitably insane weaponry, Dobermann has plenty of money, but Critini is getting closer, and eventually they meet and have a long chase. The plot may not be original, but it is always interesting, violent, and well worth watching.There are plenty of outstanding scenes here amidst the wackiness- the grenade inside a motorcyclists helmet while riding, the grenade in a baby's pram, the head being scraped along the road at 90 mph etc. It tries hard to be cool and stylish, and mostly it works, just a pity there is a lack of substance which would have made it a classic of the genre.7 out of 10

I found this film 97 percent very good - it's running with an excellent-made action, ultra-violence, beating music and a reiterative plot (therefore the 3 other percent). What I really did like was the editing that contribute the film very realistic feature (more then others movies that futile just because the editor was merely an amateur) and the beating and the hitting scenes looked very good with then.although the film is delivering the goods - from the prospective of the visual side (and in a very good way, i must add) - it's failing miserably in delivering an intellect/thoughtful message or somewhat of a meaningful point. Of course, I don't criticize the film too much about that, though i prefer the point-making-movies.This film is for those who like action films with a lot of violence and a tepid plot, that it's only pure purpose is to the bring the viewer a 90 minutes of mid pleasure - which it does!