YMMV / The Emperor of Paris

• Funny Moments:
  • Joseph Fouché complains that he might end up giving the Légion d'Honneur award to random people. There's some amusing Reality Subtext here: in Real Life France, since about the late 20th century, governments are often accused of giving the Légion d'Honneur to people who wouldn't deserve it under normal circumstances if not for some butt-kissing and bribery going on behind the scenes. Add to that the wonderful diction of Fabrice Luchini which makes it even funnier.
  • The hilarious bit of Vidocq waiting outside Fouché's office and being too focused on cleaning his boots to notice that the man leaving the office of Fouché is none other than The Emperor, Napoleon. Upon realizing it a bit too late, Vidocq is beffudled and can barely salute him.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: According to Vidocq, the Baroness of Giverny (Olga Kurylenko) is a Black Widow. Cue Kurylenko playing a role in Black Widow (as part of the Black Widow/Red Room Program).
• Moment of Awesome:
  • The Scenery Porn of a recreated 1805 Paris is pretty impressive.
  • Having had it with being called a snitch since he now works for the police, Vidocq walks into a cell full of hardened criminals and proceeds to rip them a collective new one. And the force of his anger is so overwhelming that all the convicts shut up and listen.
  • The Duke of Neufchâteau's Last Dance against Wenger's mooks. Even when fatally wounded, he manages to kill half a dozen mooks with his saber and dies last.
  • Dubillard uses a gun with no less than four barrels in the climax, and manages to kill three of Wenger's mooks in one shot with it.
  • The final showdown in a church between Vidocq and Nathanael de Wenger.
• Spiritual Successor: The film borrows quite a bit to The Untouchables, except it's set in early 1800s France.
• Squick: The film opens with a close-up on a rat getting its head squashed with a cane onboard the prison ship.

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