Imperium

source: Imperium

Former "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe defies typecasting as a young wizard with his gripping portrayal of an undercover FBI agent in freshman writer & director Daniel Ragussis' "Imperium," based on the exploits of retired Special Agent Mike German who collaborated on the screenplay with Ragussis. For the record, German's days as an undercover agent occurred during the 1990s. Ivy-League, wet-behind-the-ears, bespectacled, FBI agent Nate Foster is participating in the eternal war against terrorism when he learns that there are more than enough homegrown terrorists infest the domestic borders of America to keep the Bureau sweating. A mild-mannered, immaculately attired FBI agent with far more sophistication than some of his colleagues, Foster catches the shrewd eye of Nicorette gum-chewing FBI agent Angela Zamparo (Toni Collette of "The Sixth Sense") who recruits him to infiltrate white supremacist groups. Nate's FBI superior Tom Hernandez (Nestor Carbonell of "The Dark Knight") warns Nate that undercover work is a one-way ticket to oblivion. Nevertheless, our hero changes his name from Nate Foster to Nate Thomas and then sets out to infiltrate homeland terrorists. Despite his woeful lack of knowledge about undercover work, Zamparo gives Nate what she considers the best primer for working undercover: Dale Carnegie's bestseller "How Win Friends and Influence People." Nate gives himself a buzz-cut to acquire the appropriate look before he plunges into deep waters of white supremacy. Initially, he insinuates himself into the lower echelons of white supremacists: the Aryan warriors. Later, he meets one of the white supremacists, a suburban husband and father Gerry Conway (Sam Trammel of HBO's "True Blood"), isn't the typical skin head covered in tattoos. Conway appreciates the finer things in life, like classical music, and he grows to trust Nate. Meantime, Nate must contend with some of the more violent examples who storm around with their heads shaved and wear uniforms adorned with swastikas. After the rougher variety of supremacists grow wary of him, Nate aligns himself with Conway, and they barely have enough time to thwart Conway and his people. The problem with Ragussis' "Imperium" is that it lacks cinematic magnitude. The investigation and the consequences appear minor in comparison with other FBI movies where agents take down conspiracies that are truly massive. Instead, "Imperium" amounts to a small fry case. Nevertheless, Ragussis opens this serious-minded epic with surprising quotation attributed to none other than Adolf Hitler: "Words build bridges into unexplored regions." Indeed, Regussis gets our attention with this quote, and then he begins to craft what appears to be a genuine sizzler that fizzles by fade-out. Mind you, the production values are solid, and the cast is convincing, but everything comes off being just a little too subdued in terms of cinema. Make no mistake, Radcliffe is very persuasive as Nate, and he hurled himself whole-heartily into the role. Sadly, "Imperium" doesn't deliver the kind of wallop that Radcliffe delivers his own performance. In all fairness to Ragussis, he has written an intelligent script, but his protagonist has way too much ease penetrating these haters, and then out of nowhere the rougher variety come to regard him with suspicion so he bails. The moment that he decides to pull out is the moment when Conway accepts him without a shred of doubt. "Imperium" qualifies as an above-average thriller with loads of interesting backstory that doesn't ignite with the kind of incendiary brilliance that you feel it was capable of without overtly forsaking its 'inspired by true events' labeling. If you cannot handle the use of obnoxious and hateful epithets, particularly the N-word, you might reconsider watching this movie.

This is about an over eager FBK agent – Nate Foster played by Daniel Radcliffe who is convinced to go undercover by an 'out of the box' thinking FBI boss. This is Toni Collette who has brushed up on cliché caricature acting especially to make this role 'her own'. Radcliffe is to go undercover with a super nasty white supremacist group – just in case they have nicked some nuclear stuff. So far so good right? Well after a crash course in "how to be a tad of a fascist", Radcliffe shaves his head – dons some braces and an Harrington jacket and thus is 'Nazified' before our very eyes. I must admit I gasped a bit at this point. Then using acting skills that would dwarf the abilities of the likes of Alec Guiness, Marlon Brando or even Chevvy Chase he manages to convince anyone that has even considered being a 'swastika hugger' that he is actually just like them – only smarter and cuter. I kept thinking he must have borrowed a magic wand form the Hogwarts wardrobe department to be able to pull this off. Then the story lurches into the realms of conspiracy theory and all the usual stuff that goes along with any self respecting film on 'cross burners'. So this is a bit disappointing in that it treads ground previously trod and even though it is dealing with some very sensitive subjects, it does so in an unambiguous and lazy way that does nothing to explore either motivation or cause of such feelings. We are presented these people as a fait accompli with no back story by way of character study. His actions are also just a bit unbelievable. If all you have to do is change your hair and clothes, buy a copy of 'Mein Kampf' to go undercover with White Supremacists then I am pretty sure they would have been infiltrated a while back. The timing is one of Hollywood standard too, with everything just perfect for the , very much needed, dramatic impact of the time, and care worn, clichéd drama. Needles to say this then fails for many reasons and has some very mixed reviews. It even has Burn Gorman in it who is one of my favourite character actors and even that ends up being a small crumb of comfort on a smorgasbord of disappointment. If you want some easy to digest movie fodder and you fancy seeing Mr Potter with a new crew cut then go ahead, if you want something original, challenging and well written, then you had better avoid.

Pros: 1. The score brilliantly lathers the film in a constantly tense and nerve-wracking feel. 2. The movie provides a fair enough representation of white power views which serves to heighten Nate Foster's (Daniel Radcliffe) ideological struggles and make them feel more real. 3. Daniel Radcliffe, Toni Collette (Angela Zamparo), Chris Sullivan (Andrew Blackwell), and Seth Numrich (Roy) give brilliant performances. 4. The tension and suspense are built up really well and it keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat for the entire duration. Cons: 1. In the beginning, Nate Foster strangely claims that Usman (Roger Yawson) did nothing but talk about taking action, even though he brazenly admitted to supplying materials for bomb-making, and he even went to detonate said bomb. 2. The film promulgates the false narrative that white supremacists commit more terror attacks than Muslims. The FBI has explicitly highlighted that it is the other way round. 3. Daniel Radcliffe's American accent is rather patchy in places, and at times sounds a little forced. 4. The fissures between the white power cells is introduced, and then forgotten about. The movie never truly examines these tensions. 5. The third act is completely rushed, as it tries to introduce a veritable bomb threat within the last 25 minutes with very little build up.

Or maybe you do expect it. I guess in a way, maybe you do, because I did too. But it's still nicely told with a pace that may not suit everyone, because it's not fast paced and tries to stay as grounded to reality as possible. While characters in the film are not described as people in the real life, I'm pretty sure you'll guess one or two inspirations from "news" programs. So this is actually balanced and truly fair in its depictions, without promoting that notion and not delivering. Again, this is a thriller and it is about the performances and they are exceptional. Daniel Radcliffe has grown up to become something else than a wizard. He's showing that he's able to do more. Are you ready for it?

Having never heard of the story that this film was inspired by, it's really difficult to trust the writers, even though that one of the writers is the narratives subject. Nate Foster, a young, idealistic FBI agent, goes undercover to take down a radical right- wing terrorist group. The up-and-coming agent must confront the challenge of sticking to a new identity while maintaining his real principles as he delves Depp into the underworld of white supremacy...... I mentioned not having heard of the story simply because I'm unsure of exactly when the events in question happened. And this is where the big problem lies, Radcliffe is woefully miscast as Nate, he's just too nice, and there are times in the film where he gives the game away several times. I'm no expert on undercover police work, but to come out of character several times in criminal company is both dangerous and unprofessional. If the true events happened 10-15 years ago, then Bale would have been perfect for the role. Radcliffe is a wonderful actor, and he's overcome that difficult task of ridding himself of Potters ghost with other works, but here, he never shows the menace, the anger, or the fear that his Nate should have. And in turn, the films message, and the acts committed by the extremist groups just seem worthless. It should be a tough watch, a compelling film, with a dangerous streak running through the narrative, but instead, your yelling at Radcliffe to act less like a rabbit in the headlight, and more of a professional F.B.I agent. The film had potential, but the casting is terrible.

This is a really great film. I enjoyed it a lot. Though I must say I was kinda shaken ( which I am sure is the intention of the ones who made it) by all the imagery of Nazis and neoNazis in the film. Daniel was really good. I must say I did not watch the movies he is most famous for or everyone knows him for but less known ones where he is always on very different roles ( psychopath, killer etc) and this role suits him just fine. All other actors did a great job too. As for the film - it is interesting, not boring a minute, greatly paced. It relies more on the psychological frame of 'suspects' which is a good thing. No unnecessary action / violence which I also liked. The twists ( two, three minor ones) were good and I must say that nothing was predictable for me - which is great. Maybe a good soundtrack to the film would add to it to be even better. Minor minus is that we don't know what happened to all the other 'suspects' that he first joined and later with that camp leader. The film does have an end, but I felt that those people were somehow forgotten in the end and they were a big part of the film. All in all, nine from me.

It's sometimes difficult to rate cliché-filled movies like these after seeing similar ones, like American History X, Drummer, A Time to Kill, 12 Years A Slave, and many others. The problem is, well, you've seen and heard it all before - the virulent language, the willful ignorance of the perpetrators, their misguided ideology and, of course, their insistence on victimhood. Imperium is no different, but it sure is timely as hell, went to far as to even mention Dylann Roof who has NOW only been found mentally able to stand trial for his dirty deed done dirt cheap. Daniel Radcliffe was right on. Never missed a beat. As a racist skinhead he was very believable. There were some moments in the film that I thought they pored the racism on too thickly (swastika cookies and window streamers?!) and it made the proceedings too...cartoonish. Otherwise, I liked this film. To the new alt-right movement, this film will probably be treasured and revered like "Casablanca", "Dr. Zhivago", or "Gone with the Wind." Is Imperium a must see? Yes, I think so. Hopefully, these racist skinheads will always stay on the fringes. If not, we're in trouble.

The post Harry Potter series, apart from awesome in 'Horns', Daniel Radcliffe struggled to find his character, where he fits in. I mean he tried many different ones, but I think in this he was so good. Initially I thought 'whaaaat?' Because with his physique, he did not qualify to play an FBI agent. He was like when the Captain America first came to the army recruitment. And then when the story progressed, I realised the character was designed that way. So I found it kind of fun, though the topic it was dealing, especially knowing it was inspired by the real, this is definitely an eye opener. The first 5 minutes reveals the film's whole plot. Though the opening was the end part of some undercover operation taken by the FBI. It does not show us how it all had happened, but with a new mission, another similar kind of event follows which is what this film. Some people call it a propaganda, but I think it was a good message film for the common people. For how misused the homeland security force. I mean they were doing their jobs, but for achieving big within the force, they take the risks which unfortunately transforms the barking dogs into the biting ones. So basically the infiltration means, they are the one to encourage those bad guys to act, in order to get them red handed. If it was for a good cause like if they nab the real culprit, then it's okay, but the innocents should not be turned into evil and punished. Like there are no bad guys, but they make one and take into the custody. If you watch it and think about it, you would relaise what I meant. It was a better film than I anticipated, and the performance by Daniel Radcliffe was the highlight of the film. Some newcomer directed it and decently done his job. Not a must see, but surely I force you to watch it to learn the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the FBI force. 7/10

Nate Foster (Daniel Radcliffe) is an empathetic nerdy FBI agent. Agent Angela Zamparo (Toni Collette) recruits him to infiltrate white supremacists suspected of importing stolen caesium. The prime target is internet radio host Dallas Wolf. Nate tries to connect through local leader Vince Sargent. He also connects with Aryan militia leader Andrew Blackwell and seemingly suburban family man Gerry Conway. Infiltration movie can be quite intense. The oddity in this one is Radcliffe. He is not the usual muscle-bound emotional-cripple with whom these movies traffics in. He is a nerd. That's what is so interesting in the movie. It's actually fascinating that these characters don't see him coming and I buy it. I also like that Gerry Conway is actually smart and the movie has a variety of white supremacists. There are a couple of false steps later on in the movie which keeps it from going all the way to the top. Nevertheless, this is good.

Daniel Radcliffe as a FBI agent and an extreme white supremacist, now that was a film I really had to see. Personally, I love undercover stories as they have inbuilt elements of excitement and uncertainty. You're wondering constantly whether the covert operation is going to be a success or a failure. Even with a shaved head and gangster clothes, Radcliffe lacked menace, fury and vitriol one might expect from a white supremacist. His eyes emanate a childlike innocence that is difficult to overcome even by vulgar behaviour and foul language. He doesn't astound, but I was quite engrossed in his performance. I cared about him and I wanted him to succeed. I would have loved to see a deeper examination of infiltration strategies than what was in this film. It employs tips from the well – known book: Dale Carnegie's 'How to win friends and influence people', and doesn't go beyond that. By being as simple as it is, it takes away the intrigue of an undercover story. There were some nail-biting scenes and clever dialogue that held my attention. We do get to delve into the mindsets of several white supremacists. The finale, however, felt very rushed. It came across as very sudden and I questioned its plausibility. It seems that the writers just needed a quick and thrilling end to the story without considering whether it is consistent with what they have developed earlier, both story and character wise. I admire Radcliffe's tenacity to take on such a role. Even though the film wasn't a profound artwork, he does well in trying to break the seemingly immutable image of him as Harry Potter. Anyone who is used to seeing him as the boy who lived would be pleasantly surprised.