Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance

Huge fan of the Rise of the foot soldier franchise, unfortunately this one wasn't as good as previous ones, it lacked the banter & humour we know and love. Craig is a great actor he committed to the role with professionalism. Without the other two (Tony & Ralph) it was just too serious and dare I say the fight scenes a little cringy. Josh (Jimmy) played a good role and was nice to see him get some extra screen time, was nice to see some familiar and established actors throughout the film and some new faces. The storyline didn't really have much impact. I think it will leave the audience asking questions. It's definitely a different vibe this one. I look forward to the next film though, it's setup nice to continue the story, hopefully with Terry Craig & Ron. Worth a watch but not worth the wait.

Ok, this franchise is really silly and most of the characters in it are violent psychopaths. And the real people they're based on must have been vile. But these are movies, so let's put that to one side. In this one, the tone is markedly different from before. It's a "proper" film and leaves out the relentless mindless violence and swearing that numbs you that characterised the previous movies. Here - somehow - is a film that's technically very well put together indeed. The acting is good, the story is ok if a bit too convoluted and the way they keep holding off on a big reveal a few times too many gets annoying. But the actors in this one are properly acting for the most part, and the camerawork and editing is very very good. 8 "faaaahkin caaaahnts" out of 10.

I left a very scathing review of Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins, so I feel it is only fair that I should leave one about ROTF: Vengeance. I am by no means a fan of this franchise and I sat down to watch this film, expecting the usual - constant swearing, misogyny, drug taking, stilted accents and A-level drama quality acting. I was pleasantly surprised. The heavy use of the c word (probably 10-15 in this film) and comedic elements have been replaced with a slow-burn storyline, focussing on character development, and the lighting and set pieces were great, which proves that Nick Nevern has really hit his stride with this instalment. A minor criticism would be that they seemed to bring back one recurring character too many, and the storyline became a touch confusing because of this. All in all, a very enjoyable watch - the omission of the ghastly Terry Stone character helped immensely.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy as much as I expected by being a huge fan of this franchise. The story is bland, nothing out of the ordinary than Pat going on a rampage, and I did not recognise any characters returning which me personally would have loved to see. The character acting was great, Craig had a great perfomance nevertheless. In all honesty, it might not be required to see the previous movies of the franchise for this one, the story is basically revolving around him and his friend. Unfortunately, I did not realise the meaning of the hitman present hired by the loan shark first up, he did not appear later in the movie.

Tate and Kenny rob a cash transit vehicle, but it goes wrong. Then things get complicated. I knew nothing about this film going in. It sounded like a franchise entry, and I expected something like GI Joe, or something science fiction-y. Well, it is part of a franchise - number 6, apparently - but I couldn't have been more wrong otherwise, because this is a brutal British crime thriller. And it's quite good. The film features a very textured story - not especially complex, but there's quite of a lot of it packed into a not excessive running time. The cast are fine, the action is well choreographed, the direction is good, and there is setup for the next movie. It's not unfair to point out that the protagonist.is not very sympathetic. This is a film about bad people and even worse people.