XIII: The Conspiracy

XIII: The Conspiracy is a 2008 Franco-Canadian television film in two parts, based on the eponymous graphic novel series by Belgian authors Jean Van Hamme and William Vance, about an amnesiac protagonist who seeks to discover his concealed past. The film served as a pilot for XIII: The Series, which aired on television in 2011.

The film was directed by Duane Clark, stars Val Kilmer and Stephen Dorff, and was produced by Prodigy Pictures and Cipango Films. It was first broadcast in France in October 2008 by Canal+; followed by NBC in the USA in February 2009; by Nine in Australia (as The Conspiracy) in November 2009; and by Five in the United Kingdom in December 2009 (where it was shown as a single feature instead of in two parts).

Plot
When the first female president of the United States, Sally Sheridan, (Mimi Kuzyk) is killed by a sniper, her assassin narrowly escapes after a shootout involving a shadowy figure named La Mangouste (Val Kilmer) or "The Mongoose". Three months later in West Virginia, an elderly couple discover a young man (Stephen Dorff) in a parachute laying wounded in a tree. He cannot remember his past and the only clue to his identity is a tattoo on his chest, "XIII", the Roman numeral for 13.

In the White House, a joint intelligence task force led by Colonel Amos (Greg Bryk) searches for the President's killer while XIII searches online for information about his tattoo. His location is detected by the NSA and a squad of elite special forces swarm the couple's home, killing them. XIII kills the soldiers and escapes to New York where he befriends Sam (Caterina Murino), a photo shop owner, who helps identify Kim (Jessalyn Gilsig), a woman in a photo he carries.

Rogue Secret Service agents track his location and he is ultimately captured by La Mangouste, who interrogates him and reveals that "XIII" is the brand of a conspiracy. Upon escaping, XIII returns to Sam and learns that the design on his chest also refers to secret societies of the Roman Empire. Sam provides photos that Kim developed in the store which lead XIII upstate to Kellownee Valley.

Government intelligence identifies XIII as Steven Rowland and uses the media to further the manhunt. XIII is aided by Kim, her father, General Carrington (Stephen McHattie), and Jones, a CIA operative, who reveal he was a special ops agent who underwent facial reconstruction for an undercover mission to flush out a group of fascists plotting to overthrow the American government.

La Mangouste locates and captures XIII, killing Kim in the process. La Mangouste discovers XIII has had reconstructive surgery and that his military file is classified. XIII is attacked by another member of the conspiracy, "XIV", but escapes with the help of Jones. President Galbrain (John Bourgeois) authorizes Calvin Wax (Jonathan Higgins), the White House Chief of Staff, to take over the manhunt.

In an NSA safehouse, Carrington reveals XIII's identity as Ross Tanner, who lost his wife and daughter in the sarin gas attacks in Chicago. Carrington also reveals that Col. Jack McCall (Scott Wickware) supervised XIII's paramilitary unit which orchestrated the foreign attacks and that the next major attack is expected to coincide with the upcoming election.

XIII and Jones travel to a decommissioned facility in northern Montana where XIII witnesses McCall in a teleconference with Wax and accosts him, but McCall commits suicide before revealing he location of the attack. Evidence points to a nuclear strike on election day at a Maryland polling station. Carrington confronts Amos and is arrested on suspicion of high treason.

XIII and Jones research Jasper Winthrow, CEO of Standard Electronics, which owns Stratus Dynamics, a military contractor impacted by the former president's plan to scale down America's presence in Iraq. This leads XIII and Jones to a factory in Petersburg, Virginia, where XIII locates and kills La Mangouste. XIII discovers the target is Bethesda, Maryland, and arrives in time to stop the delivery of the bomb.

Wally Sheridan, the assassinated president's brother, wins the national election. XIII confronts Wax, who claims that it is "only the beginning" before killing himself. Carrington is released from prison and Sheridan reveals in a press conference the details of the plot and those behind it.

While in Japan, XIII and Jones discover that Ross Tanner's family didn't exist, and that Wally Sheridan had his sister killed to get the Vice President into the office then orchestrated attacks to undermine confidence in the President to ensure Sheridan's victory and establish a dictatorship. XIII, realizing they have been duped, tells Jones, "We're going back."

Critical reception
At Metacritic, the miniseries has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Its best reviews came from The Hollywood Reporter, who said "All in all, this isn't a half-bad political thriller." On the other side, USA Today said "Poorly cast and performed (including an embarrassing turn by Val Kilmer), XIII is shot so murkily and staged so badly, you can hardly tell where people are, let alone where they're going."