The Wisdom Of Crocodiles (1998) Full Review

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00:00hey guys welcome back it's me Bo here on the film scene investigation channel thanks for

00:16checking out this video in today's review I'm going to be taking a look at the 1998

00:24vampire drama the wisdom of crocodiles now I came across this movie when I was doing some research

00:34into the actress Kerry Fox now she's someone that I've reviewed some of her movies on this channel

00:42before I think she's actually quite an interesting and underrated actress anyways I looked into her

00:50filmography saw the wisdom of crocodiles was listed and given it had a pretty decent cast I decided to

00:58check it out just before we get into the review guys if you haven't already please do consider

01:04subscribing to the channel all the support is greatly appreciated I just want to say a big thank

01:10you to all my current and new subscribers I love doing this and uh you know you subscribing liking

01:19sharing uh you know it's a lot of encouragement for me to carry on so thank you so the wisdom of

01:27crocodiles from 1998 also known in some parts of the world as immortality was a movie that was directed

01:35by the Chinese filmmaker Po Chi Leong and was based on the novel by Paul Hoffman starring a young Jude

01:44Law in the lead role this movie was shot on location in London in the late 90s and cost around about

01:52five million to produce so the movie centered around the character Stephen Grilsch a well-educated

02:00charming young man who was played by actor Jude Law at the start of the movie we saw Stephen's heroics

02:07on display when he prevented a young woman from ending her life at Waterloo station this woman called

02:15Maria who was played by actress Carrie Fox was clearly a troubled individual who you know had basically had

02:24enough of life she wanted to end it all and if it wasn't for the quick thinking of Stephen she would have

02:33died but luckily he prevented her yet she didn't seem all that thankful he had just saved her life

02:43but Maria was very ungrateful and just stormed off in anger what we thought would just be a chance

02:52encounter ended up turning into something more when the two eventually met up a few days later and got

02:59romantically involved when we first saw Maria at Waterloo station yes she clearly was a troubled

03:07individual and someone that was clearly suffering from some form of depression but when we saw her

03:14again a few days later she seemed a lot more happier and it was clear that she was attracted to Stephen so

03:22they got together but very quickly Maria realized that Stephen wasn't just your typical average

03:3220-something living in London in fact he was quite a unique individual himself you see Stephen turned out to

03:41be a vampire a bloodthirsty vampire who preyed on young vulnerable women in the city of London this was all

03:51revealed when Stephen ended up biting Maria when the two were in bed what started out as this

03:59intimate moment between the two soon turned very bloody with Maria getting killed in the process it was

04:08definitely a gruesome scene with Maria almost in a state of shock she wasn't really fighting back her eyes

04:15just kind of bulged out and she was almost like yeah in in total shell shock as Stephen you know had a

04:23great time sucking all the blood from her neck i mean he got a good and there was no way that she was going

04:29to survive and so she died and after Stephen was done he decided to wrap her body up and drive to the

04:38english channel to dump the english channel to dump the body just from the way that Stephen acted after

04:44he killed Maria like it was no big deal clearly this guy had done this many many times before so the body

04:55was dumped and in Stephen's eyes that was the end of that he had got what he wanted out of Maria and so he

05:04was now able free to roam the streets of London for his next victims but you see Maria's body was

05:12eventually found by the authorities and well so began a murder investigation a few days later the news

05:21broke that this body had been found at the english channel and authorities were investigating Stephen saw

05:29this news report and immediately contacted the police to avoid any suspicion you see Stephen was smart

05:38he knew that if the police started you know looking into Maria's background then they could potentially

05:46connect her to him so detectives eventually questioned Stephen at his apartment with Stephen declaring that

05:54they were in a relationship but they had argued and Maria had just suddenly disappeared the cops of course

06:03did question why Stephen you know Maria's boyfriend didn't report her missing with Stephen just saying that

06:11they had an argument and he assumed that their relationship was over this alibi that Stephen had created

06:20you know in his head you know in his head he thought that was enough for him to you know be seen as

06:25an innocent party and all of this but inspector healy who was played by actor timothy spool had strong

06:32suspicions of Stephen and his version of events healy was a very experienced detective who had been working on

06:43murder cases for many years so when he came across Stephen he knew deep down that he was involved he just

06:50didn't have the evidence yet Stephen was later brought in to participate in a police lineup with the detectives

06:59saying that it was just part of their preliminary work as part of the investigation the authorities had

07:07successfully identified the vehicle that drove Maria's dead body to the english channel and they figured

07:14that Stephen definitely had something to do with it the detectives were trying to apply pressure to

07:21Stephen but he remained cool calm and collected and participated in the lineup where unfortunately for

07:29the police he wasn't identified a witness who had come forward failed to successfully identify Stephen

07:38and so the police were back to square one as for inspector healy well he wasn't convinced he knew deep

07:47doubt Stephen had some sort of involvement in Maria's death and was determined to uncover the truth separately

07:55while the murder investigation was ongoing we saw Stephen get romantically involved with a woman called

08:02Anne who was played by actress Alina Lowenson she had caught Stephen's eye and Stephen wasn't shy about

08:10making his feelings known he openly pursued her and with Anne well she liked this mysterious figure that was

08:19giving her all his attention so the two hooked up they got together and at first you know the honeymoon period

08:27everything was you know going fine but as time went on Anne got very frustrated with how Stephen was so

08:37reluctant to share any of his private life with her she seemed to want more commitment and honesty in their

08:47relationship whereas Stephen was quite happy to remain this elusive figure the two had arguments but they

08:57reconciled and one evening after reconciliation Stephen couldn't help but attempt to bite Anne just like he had

09:06with Maria it was this intimate moment between the two that soon turned very ugly you see Stephen pinned Anne to

09:16the bed and given that he was a male vampire and she was just a mere mortal there was no way that

09:23she could overpower him it seemed like Anne was a goner she was about to succumb to this nasty vicious attack

09:32but at the last moment Stephen stopped himself somehow some way Stephen was able to fight back those sadistic urges

09:43that bloodlust that bloodlust that he had and well allowed Anne to live you had to feel bad for the Anne

09:51character as she had absolutely no idea that she was dating a vampire and so eventually Stephen came clean

10:01and revealed his true identity he told her that he really felt a connection a strong bond between the two

10:09and he really liked her and he really liked her and he didn't want to hurt her but ultimately Stephen was

10:15stuck because he was a vampire and he needed to live on fresh blood Stephen explained the situation

10:24in an attempt to try and persuade Anne to let him suck her blood it was basically this ultimatum in that if Anne

10:35didn't help Stephen then he would die a slow and painful death thematically the wisdom of crocodiles

10:45explored manipulation within the confines of a relationship in both cases Stephen was the

10:53dominating force exploiting his partner's affections you see both Anne and Maria were dating Stephen

11:03under these false pretenses you see they felt affection for the man but in Stephen's eyes

11:11they were just his next victims I also noticed how Stephen weaponized his own sexuality in order to

11:22entice women to date him you see Stephen knew that he was a good-looking guy he was charming he was funny he was

11:29smart and he was smart and he used that to his advantage you know I found that quite interesting because

11:36in some ways you could kind of describe Stephen as a male femme fatale who as I said weaponized his sexuality

11:46and took advantage of many vulnerable women not that I condone his

11:52his murderous ways but you have to remember that ultimately Stephen was a vampire and his main

12:02priority was survival and the way he survived was on new blood and he was willing to go to whatever lengths

12:11to get it as for the performances in the film I thought Jude Law was great in the lead role as Stephen

12:18Grilch this actor you know he really was the linchpin that held everything together you know delivering

12:25this brooding performance of a vampire living in the 20th century you know I can't say that I'm a huge fan

12:33of Jude Law but there's no denying that the man can act you know he really can and he proved it here

12:41with this film the wisdom of crocodiles at times he was very very captivating on screen and certainly

12:49showed a lot of potential as a future leading man I did think the script was a little off in places

12:58which subsequently hindered Jude Law's performance but overall I thought he did a great job with

13:05the material that he was given while Stephen indeed was this bloodsucker you know this bloodthirsty vampire

13:15down to the great characterization Jude Law actually made me feel sympathy for that character so yeah

13:23you know props to him and certainly if you're a Jude Law fan this is a movie that you need to watch

13:29fellow British actor Timothy Spool who played Inspector Healy was also very good in the role he certainly

13:37looked and sounded the part of this somewhat burnt out detective who was just trying to uncover the truth

13:45behind Maria's murder as for the actual chemistry between the actors I thought Jude Law and Timothy Spool

13:54their scenes together they were the best parts of the movie the two actors really connected well and

14:03they both had this natural rapport with each other and it certainly added a level of depth to an otherwise

14:12outlandish story as for actress Alina Lowenson she played the love interest of Stephen and I thought she did a

14:22pretty okay job but I'm not gonna say that she kind of you know delivered this amazing performance or

14:30you know really was that memorable you know don't get me wrong she wasn't bad in any way

14:36but there was just nothing really kind of special about her portrayal it was just kind of there and

14:43anything that really kind of I took notice of was that her character Anne was at times quite annoying

14:51you know towards the end of the movie the whole murder investigation kind of got put to one side

14:58and a lot of focus was put on the relationship drama between Stephen and Anne and to be honest with you

15:06uh I wasn't all that keen while I wanted to know what was going to happen to Stephen when it came to the

15:14Anne character I mean she just seemed very one dimensional kind of bland so yeah I didn't really

15:23care for the character fair play to the actress she you know did her best that she could but um overall

15:31it really wasn't anything impressive one thing I really did like about the film was its whole aesthetic

15:38with this dark elegant vibe from the fashion to the locations used it's clear that the wisdom of

15:47crocodiles was made by some very competent professionals Stephen's apartment in particular had this very

15:56distinctive look with these rustic doors and this gray stone wall it definitely looked like a very cool and

16:04sleek kind of place to live in and it certainly fit Stephen's character as this vampire who was well

16:13educated and highly skilled I should also mention that there was a really cool shot of Stephen's office floor

16:21from this bird's eye view looking down it was this unique star-shaped design you know colored in browns and

16:30blacks and while not necessarily would I want that for my office floor it certainly suited Stephen's highbrow nature

16:41and so dislikes for the wisdom of crocodiles from 1998 my biggest dislike for the film would have to be

16:51the lack of actress Kerry Fox because to be quite honest with you guys she was underutilized

17:00so as I've mentioned Kerry Fox at the beginning of the film she played Maria the woman tried to end her life

17:07and then was subsequently stopped and had this relationship with Stephen

17:13she would end up being one of his victims and of course the murder investigation led on from her disappearance

17:21now having seen a handful of Kerry Fox's material seeing her work and knowing what she's capable of

17:28she really should have been given a much bigger role in this movie she's a very talented actress

17:37yet she didn't really get a chance to showcase her abilities here

17:42after watching you know the whole film I really believe that Kerry Fox should have actually have been cast as

17:51Anne instead of actress Alina Lowenson you know I don't want to be too harsh on the actress Alina Lowenson

17:59but you know I have to just be honest and say that if you had Kerry Fox in that role playing Anne

18:07it probably would have been a better film

18:09stylistically

18:11it could be argued that Alina was a lot more attractive than the actress Kerry Fox

18:18and so it would seem to me that the filmmakers

18:21you know went with her

18:23over Kerry Fox because well simply

18:25she was more visually pleasing

18:28I don't know it just didn't really make sense to me the more that

18:32I think about it the more I think it was a missed opportunity

18:36you know a complete you know

18:38bad bad casting decision to pick Lowenson over Fox

18:44but you know it is what it is

18:46you know I also have to ask myself

18:49what really was the point of Kerry Fox taking this role

18:52I mean you know she was great don't get me wrong but it was such a limited appearance

18:59I don't know I'm kind of asking myself

19:02was there you know a scheduling conflict

19:05was there you know I don't know some sort of money issue

19:09it just doesn't make sense to me

19:11and you know I'll admit as well I can be objective and and say that I think

19:16going into this movie I assumed that

19:19Kerry Fox was going to have a much bigger role

19:23and so I was let down by that and it certainly

19:30hampered my overall viewing experience watching this film

19:35and so ratings for The Wisdom of Crocodiles from 1998

19:42I'm going to be rating this movie 3.5 out of 10.

19:48The Wisdom of Crocodiles was certainly a unique film that attempted to blend different genres together

19:57starting out as a psychological horror and then slowly introducing the mellow drama

20:04you know I actually think that's where this movie went wrong

20:07because they focus too much on the melodrama and the romanticism and all that

20:14where it should have been a lot more cut and dry with this murder investigation

20:19and the police trying to uncover the truth

20:22you know I appreciated the filmmakers for at least attempting to you know merge these two genres together

20:29and of course we've seen that work in the past but with this entry specifically

20:37I don't know kind of thought it was kind of kind of bland and kind of safe

20:43having now seen this movie I can totally understand how this film has kind of been forgotten over the years

20:51I mean me personally other than me you know checking Kerry Fox's IMDB

20:58I've never heard of this film before I've never heard anyone talk about this film before

21:03and yeah I can uh kind of see why you know don't get me wrong this is not a bad film

21:08there are hundreds and hundreds of films are a lot worse but it just didn't really you know

21:17impress me that much it wasn't really all that enthralling for a 90-minute horror film you know

21:23the acting was good it certainly was a well-produced movie but as the story kind of developed and went further

21:32yeah I certainly started to lose interest if you've seen the wisdom of crocodiles then please

21:40let me know your thoughts and memories in the comment section below for all those out there who haven't

21:46and I'm sure there's a lot of you out there you haven't seen this one yet it's a

21:52minor recommendation for me I will say specifically if you're into horror films but you know you like

21:58your vampire movies then definitely check this out but other than that I can't really

22:07encourage you to kind of spend 90 minutes watching this as I said it's not bad but it's not great

22:16it's kind of in between I mean it's very mid so you know take of that what you will and well that's

22:24all from me today guys I do hope you've enjoyed this review of the wisdom of crocodiles from 1998 I'll be

22:33back next week of course with another cult movie review don't forget to like and subscribe if you

22:39like the content that I do here on the channel and of course take care

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