NipPierce Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

PodBill Just what I expected

Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Burkettonhe This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

roxysands Maj-id is an unbeatable boxer, thug, thief, henchman and lover.The Director of this film is also the screenwriter, (please keep this in mind) which makes one wonder if there's any latent quasi-envy issues in his social-political p.o.v. towards black men. Read on, then watch the film.The progression of the story and the plight of the main character Maj-id (Moroccan descent) seems woefully preoccupied with race and acceptance. This meme is repeated over and over to a point of .. (see last sentence of this review) Maj-id is an unbeatable boxer, street thief, thug, henchman and lover. He even hits his girlfriend. She befriends a black man(and Maj-id loses it. The girlfriend is sexually turned on and wants to know what its like to beat a man to a pulp. Black people in the film are referred to as a monkeys or jungle commandos. Maj-id .. remember .. is an unbeatable boxer, thug, thief, henchman and lover. Even with full swing baton hits to the stomach and to a seemingly broken hand. You must understand that Maj-id is an unbeatable boxer, street thief, thug, henchman and lover. I know, it gets old.Stereotypical high school fantasy writing. You see, the film's setting is in the Netherlands, though there's hardly any Dutch people in the film. The writer/director solely uses black people in this story to juxtapose Maj-id's thuggish activities, or beats them to a pulp to prove his skills as a boxer. Realistically if Maj-id's world of organized crime involved dealing with Dutch people, .. well, then Maj-id and his gang would be likely referred to as monkeys. Hence the writing and casting decisions.This portrait of Maj-id suggests he's not black, he's Moroccan ... and he's just filled with rage. Why? In this film, you'll never find out. It's not important. What seems important to the writer/director is to have Maj-id head butt his 70 year old father (yes, the same father who has 12 year old son) .. in the hospital after his brother dies. This same portrait of Maj-id displays him with an enormous gold tooth and matching gold chain. Cue rap music. Yes, there's scenes in which he robs and vandalizes while rap music is blaring. But, he's not black, he's Moroccan. Maj-id is an unbeatable boxer, thug, thief, henchman and lover. He hits women, head butts his 70 year old father and can beat a world champion boxer .. even if his ribs are busted and his hand is broken.What was the director thinking? Watch the film.

trublu215 Wolf follows a young kickboxer named Maj as he drifts into the criminal underworld ran by the Turkish mob. Wolf is a film jammed pack with genres. Sports Drama. Crime Drama. Family Drama. Take your pick, this film has it all. While that seems ambitious for one film, Wolf pulls it off with talent both on screen and behind the scenes. Shown in black and white, Wolf starts with Maj and his best friend stealing mopeds from a shop. A scene that starts right off the bat and let's you know what kind of film you're in for. Now, while the film's plot is clichè, Wolf makes up for its familiar path with a grand array of thoughtful performances and provocative subtext. Marwan Kenzari is perfect in the role of Maj. He's a brooding and vicious man played with a cold and brisk demeanor. Kenzari's skills are able to keep us going from start to finish as we see Raj's ups and downs with the utmost honesty. Despite these qualities, Wolf often drowns itself with repetitive scenes, including ones in which Maj and his terminally ill brother share brotherly bonding time. While these scenes are well acted and paced, by the end of the film, you're left with the feeling that it gave nothing to the story except drag it out. With a bloated runtime of barely over two hours, you begin to feel the effects of it in the middle of the film but quickly tries to get back on track with the more interesting plot of the mob and Maj's descent into his own personal hell. Wolf is very much so a character study of a violent man with a heart of gold. While he is no Carlito Brigante or Michael Corleone, Maj is a more disturbed individual with a dark past and family life that is more than estranged and borders on dysfunctional. The film features some brutal and abrupt scenes of violence that are very realistic and beautifully choreographed, despite some of them feeling as though director Jim Taihuttu went out of his way to shock us. Instead of shocking, some feel a bit drawn out and intended to add more character to Maj but instead makes the audience feel less sympathetic with his situation. There are great qualities to Wolf but some moments of greatness do not entirely forgive some of the weaker moments. One of which featuring Maj's old girlfriend jumping from one gangster to the next, which proves to be a bit more costly than Maj originally intends it to be. Again, another subplot that could have been cut down just a bit. Overall, Wolf is entertaining and features moments of sheer brilliance but the familiar and sometimes bloated story keeps it from achieving pure greatness.

Einarr01 I rarely bother writing reviews here these days, but I couldn't resist sharing a couple of opinions on this one. I do get why it's so highly rated here on IMDb, yet I thought that for a change a director would like to presents us with something different, like a social comment for instance, than the following:A young man from a Moroccan family living in the suburbs of a Dutch city feels the effects of the anomic society he's inhabiting. On top of that he is far and away from the morals and ethics of his parents, which is presumable, given the fact that he lives in a environment which runs on mixture of mechanic (the parents) and organic solidarity (the dutch). Being alone (which by the way is signified by the allegory with the wolf - an animal who can lead a lonely life, but has strong guts, just like the main protagonist), estranged from the society of his parents, and alienated from the Dutch society in which he grew, he never manages to find his way, which results in outburst of violence, crime and, eventually, death. Instead of criticising that by his oeuvre (even if he tried, he failed for the sake of the movie selling well) the director's use the same old story told once again here which results in praising the actual acts of violence, crime, vengeance, hypocrisy and most of all profanity. You see it's a natural for the individual to feel angst when confronted by something he doesn't know and understand, something that is foreign to him and therefore seen as a threat. Virtually, what we have here is the main protagonist who feels all this towards the time and place he lives in together with his environments and the people around his - friends and family included. It's crucial for us to understand that he fists his way throughout his life because he failed to find his way into it, therefore, he's unable to cope with it otherwise. I believe, it's quite poignant the fact that he cannot maintain a simple relationship, which is obviously something he cannot manage, just because he doesn't know how to act in a relationship. The girl he likes is a bimbo from the hood - he'll kill for her, yet it's too much for him to call her for 6 months, because he never managed to internalise what it is to care and to be cared for.Many will find inspiration in this movie, just because hoards of people nowadays are in the same situation. They feel alone, lost, estranged and misunderstood - as I said above all these are the result of an anomic society under the influence of their own oeuvre. Many will praise the main protagonist for his ability to fist his way throughout the banalities of life. Why I hated this movie is because it never grew to actually acknowledge all the problems that it raises. These are amongst many others: the human situation, discrimination, failure in multicultural policies, failure in dealing with the problems with the minorities an mostly marginalising these minorities. Not to mention the fact that instead putting these issues onto the table and furthermore dealing with the violence and crime that are so deceptively shown here, it actually makes us feel for them and most importantly for the need of a persona to establish them. Last but not least it failed to perform an even slight attempt of evolution and reincarnation of the character - it's suitable to mention here that the movie lacked ANY likable characters to begin with apart from the dying, well-to-do brother, who's figure was obviously an allegory of the helplessness of the entire situation to change and the message that it's all doomed. All in all I cannot show respect for a movie that praises what is wrong in a society instead giving it a voice up for a chance. Maybe by filming it all, the director wanted to show us all the stereotypes through which he patched his movie and raise all the questions coming out of them, yet it all turned against it, not matter the good cinematography and believable characters.

teabaga22 Must say I have got to be in the right mind to watch subtitled movies. When I found out this was black and white I so nearly stopped watching this. AM GLAD I Didn't. This film is a great watch. Sex drugs guns fighting but with a bit of a story line. although a bit gangster cheesy in a few bits its kept me wanting to watch more. I think the bits of the film can relate to anybody who has grown up in a less than posh town. If in doubt give it a watch no its not no great masterpiece but id watch it twice and that's saying a lot. A lot of ppl just think of Amsterdam when they think of Holland ans yes its a crazy place(pls go if u can lol) but Holland like every other euro country has its rough places. Enjoy