Imperium

'Imperium's' main interest point is the subject matter, it's an important and relevant one, very hard-hitting and portraying it takes a lot of courage with the danger of heavy-handedness or bias. Toni Collette is a fine actress, have liked to loved a lot of her performances, and wanted to see how Daniel Radcliffe would fare in one of his most mature and most challenging roles.

Found 'Imperium' to be a worthwhile and interesting film but also an uneven one where potential is not completely fulfilled. Credit is due for taking on a difficult subject, which is not an easy thing to do, based on the real life experiences of Michael German, a real life FBI-agent, and there are many things to admire. With more focus and tightness 'Imperium' would have been an even better film, with much potential to be a very good even with many good things it is frustrating that the film for me was just decent.

Lets start with the positive. The look of the film is slick, stylish and suitably gritty, a perfect visual approach for the story. The soundtrack has pulsating energy yet is dynamic enough, the use of Brahms is inspired and will delight classic music fans (like me). Despite the director actually being inexperienced making a film, this is actually quite a confident directing job.

The script has tension and tautness, providing a good deal of thought and insight, while the story generally grips and has a suspenseful and bold feel to it, it's coherent too. Not everybody is going to like Daniel Radcliffe's performance, for me it's a strong contender for his best and shows how far he's grown as an actor. Fair play to him challenging himself. The cast generally did well, Tracy Letts being a standout.

Expected much more from Collette though, her character was not very interesting and gave her little to do and Collette comes over as uncharacteristically bland. Her chemistry with Radcliffe has some spark, too far and between, but the tension between Radcliffe and the supremists was far more convincing.

Did think that despite nothing being done disastrously a few elements were unevenly done. The script also can be heavy-handed and could have explored the subject in more depth at times, despite good intentions, and the story has some padding not always needed, a sometimes jumpy structure and plausibility can go out the window. The ending felt rushed and anti-climactic.

Concluding, interesting if uneven. Well done for trying. 6/10 Bethany Cox

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.

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.

This is all about compelling storytelling combining with just as compelling acting.

The basic plot of the film is nothing new, many films have covered this material.

Its the intricacies of the story that make it work, the interpersonal drama and tension are really powerful.

Potter excels again in this movie showing he is an actor to look for when he releases something. He doesn't always hit it out of the park but on this occasion, he does.

This film should have been a bit better than it is - it's not bad, not bad at all - but it's just not quite as impact-full as it should be.

Some of the dialogue is quite deep and the films message is pertinent - hint, it's not really about neo nazi skinheads, well it is, but it's not really. It's about the true heart of fascism, beyond the history, myths and conspiracy.

What is interesting is that it makes you realise that victims are more likely fascists than bullies - that any group that claims to be the 'victim' is probably nurturing some level of fascism.

It's interesting food for thought but, as I mentioned, isn't quite as powerful as it could have been - just needed that little bit more.