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The Barbarian Invasions Movie Review

The Barbarian Invasions is a 2003 Canadian dramedy film directed by Denys Arcand and starring Remy Girard, Stephane Rousseau and Marie-Josee Croze. It’s a solid, but sappy film.

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“I wish that one day you will have a son like you“

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This is a sequel to much superior ‘The Decline of the American Empire’. The protagonist is now terminally ill with cancer, his estranged son comes to visit him and he organizes or all of his friends to come by his side until his eventual death.

Needless to say, this movie is overly emotional. It was very manipulative actually in that regard as the entire third act really bothered me how extremely heartbreaking it was. None of it was subtle, and I was very disappointed by that. And simply the dramatic elements are never as strong as the comedic ones are.

Yes, it has humor as well and it’s once again a lot of fun and quite endearing. Actually, the dialogue continues to be the standout here along with the film being a sequel. I am talking about the film getting a lot of mileage of us, the audience seeing these characters again after all those years, and now older. That was both fascinating and moving.

Remy Girard is excellent as Remy and very believable. I liked that he was painted as a complex human being who is not the greatest nor the worst person out there. I liked the son also. He was so well played by Rousseau, and their relationship is the heart of the film.

Croze’s character is interesting and cool whereas the highlight of the film was seeing the entire old group together again. That was the true heartbreaker and heartwarmer, not all the cancer and death stuff later on.

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The Barbarian Invasions is a bit on the long side, but it is well edited and very well directed by Arcand. I found its dialogue again stupendous, even if the conversations are never as intriguing as they had been before. Everything here is competently made, but simply the sexual edge is lacking and we are left with an overly serious sequel that had no business winning an Oscar over its predecessor.

The Barbarian Invasions is one fine example of everything that is wrong with the Academy. Yes, the movie is very well acted, directed and it features good humor and dialogue once again. However, it lost the edge that the original had and it favors sappy cancer drama instead. It is a solid film, but way too emotionally manipulative. Thus, the original should have won an Oscar, and not the sequel.

My Rating – 3.5