Rise of the Footsoldier: Part II

It is a good film, well put together and fun. They overdo the sex scenes a bit. Most people who watch this film have seen a pair of tits before. The characters are pretty well cast. Leech is good but the actor looks totally different in almost every way which is a bit frustrating at times. The people the film is based on are clearly no angels. But the film does not falsely try to make out they are great blokes. The problem in my view is that some young blokes watch films like this and then sort of look up to these people as glamorous. They are in fact horrible caaants, especially the bloke who gets a lot of pleasure out of horrific torture. The fact he is a fictional character that is best mates with Carlton could be an illusion to something else if you catch my drift. But I cannot deny that although I don't think there is any honor in being a gangster, I like many others find their world fascinating. There are better gangster films about bigger cheeses out there but this one is still enjoyable and actually has a good climactic ending. It does not suffer the same shocking production values as some really budget gangster films

After the appalling first one, this entry really was a step up in terms of acting, pace and story (even if in real life these people didn't even know each other at the time). This falls mainly on to Luke who did a star turn as Shawn. However, after watching the third one you can see why the magic wasn't there... back to the same old play acting and ego stroking faces.

The first was possibly the most realistic and best example of the 'Brit Gangster' genre. This one is almost as good but as expectations were the highest, it's just a shade under. See the first (a must), first. Once again contains some superior and hard gangster action but what is more disturbing, is it's all based on the experiences of (the real life) Carlton Leach. Impressive.

(I've not gone into great detail about the plot, but some of the story is outlined below.) The first part of RotF was ultimately the story of the Rettendon Murders in the mid-90's as it unfolded around the life of young football hooligan, and later gangster, Carlton Leach, played masterfully by Ricci Harnett. RotF Pt.II is how Leach tries to come to terms with being the survivor of the gang, his ensuing drug addiction, divorce, criminal activities and part-redemption. Well, personally, I found this second movie to be even more absorbing than the first one. The character portrayals were so well-done I had to remind myself I was watching actors at times. Carlton's and Shawn's parts were played stunningly and their minimal dialogue was delivered straight as a bullet. If you're at all interested in English gangland activity, I can't recommend this and the first installment highly-enough. Full marks to Ricci Harnett for directing PtII, as well. Guy Richie he most certainly ain't.

I can only assume Berkoff needed some quick money as an actor of his ability should not have gone anywhere near this tosh. This film exaggerates the importance of Carlton Leach in the underworld. The acting is mostly dire but the script they are working to is unoriginal with dialogue that could have been written by a semi literate 12 year old. The direction and accompanying music just grates.

Where do I start...acting is awful, bordering on on parody. Hard men who don't see bad things happening to them. It's 1985 gangster wonderland. I hope the idiots who made this got forced to watch Michael Mann and Tarantino films for a month. Amateur at best, swearing is pathetic. A poor film of a poorer subject. AVOID.

In the vault of unnecessary sequels, this has to be up there with The Last Exorcism 2, Single White Female 2, and 8mm 2. The film serves nothing more than to be a vanity project for Writer, Director, Caterer, and Star, Harnett. The first Rising of the Footsoldier was pretty solid stuff to be fair, it was the umpteenth telling of those shootings, and why and how they took place. They featured all your favourite bad boys from cockney based soaps, and had more C words in it than the song 'My Coo Coo Ca Choo'. But it was purely filler, and was milking the dregs of a strange phenomena that Ritchie started in late nineties, and Nick Love continued to semi revive in the mid- nineties.........that of the British crime movie, and then merging your cockney wide boy story with added on true events for good measure. And in the last few years, they have been coming out on DVD almost every other week, and almost every one features the word Essex in the title. So this is basically 'what Carlton did next' and if this film is anything to go by, it's that he goes totally paranoid, almost loses everything because although he's getting on in his years, he still wants to be the hardest man on the street. Now, with any other film, you would conclude that the writer is stretching the truth just a little bit, but when you have the real Leach appear in the film for nothing more than to hug his fictional counterpart, you wonder if it's all above board, or whether some people have huge egos. And it's just another atypical, by the numbers gangster movie that has absolutely nothing new to offer. So the film consists of Harnett having a fight, getting paranoid, having a fight, getting paranoid, getting his family paranoid, and so on and so on. None of the characters are likable, the film glamorises idiotic, beer swilling louts who like nothing more than to smash stuff up, treat women like animals, but are the salt of the earth, because they are loyal. You've seen it all before, better and worse, and there now must be at least fifteen to twenty films in this sub genre released every year. And the worse thing is, is that the film feels like the middle of a blooming trilogy. A worthless inclusion to a worthless genre, feeding the wannabe criminals pipe dreams of destruction.

Not a patch on the original William/Julian Gilbey Rise of the Footsoldier. This concentrates on the aftermath of the Rettendon Range Rover murders. I am not sure even Director Ricci Harnett, who once again plays Carlton Leach, knows what to do in the movie. The script is like it was made up as he went along. No wonder you can buy the Blu-Ray for a couple of quid at major online retailers. This straight to DVD job went straight in the bin after viewing.

Not only did Ricci Harnett write this film, He directed it as well. Ricci plays Carlton Leach in this 2nd parter of a film about how Carlton Leach went through his life and what Carlton Leach was all about. Not only are these guys now part of each others family Ricci plays Carlton very well. A true to life film about what really happened. The story starts off with loads of Action from start to finish He plays a very angry fella in a club that he looks out for and sorts it all out more or less one handed. I can't give too much away as I would not want it spoilt for people who have not seen this. If any DVD sells out within a few days this year it will be this one. Well written, well directed and very well produced. If this does not get a 3rd film I will be surprised. GO OUT AND BUY A COPY AND MAKE SURE IT'S AN OFFICIAL AND NOT A BOOTLEG. KEEP British FILM GOING THIS IS A 100% FANTASTIC FILM 100/100