Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins (2021)

When ex army man "Tony" (Terry Stone) comes to the rescue of the grandson of the wealthy "Moriarty" (Ian Jarvis) he asks the man for a job. Next thing he is on the door of one of his nightclubs with ambitions to clean it up. Meantime "Simms" (Keith Allen) is having similar problems at his nearby club and after engaging the services of "Bernard" (Vinnie Jones) the two enforcers start to work together; "Tony" moves venue and now both men try to tackle the local drug pusher "Whitaker" (Bronson Webb) who deals for pub-based "Tait" (Craig Fairbrass). Will it be all out war between the two, or can they reach an accommodation? Based on real characters from East London, this is a really poorly produced crime thriller that is singularly lacking in thrills. The writers clearly swallowed a dictionary of Anglo-Saxon expletives that regurgitates with an angry and repetitive script which quickly loses any potency, as does the violent narrative acted out by a seriously mediocre group of actors. It's bloody and gory, at times, but for the most part it consists of way too much chatter and very little action. It does take a swipe at the attitudes taken by government and society towards soldiers returning from conflict who receive little, if any, support from a population all-to-quick to move on, but that aspect accounts for only a very short period at the start of the film. Gritty and dark? Yes, but little attempt is made to develop the characters and by half way through I really couldn't have cared less what happened to any of them.

Basically what you'd expect from this. With the exception of nudity, which I don't recall seeing once, 'Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins' features all the other hallmarks from the previous four films - from the overt drug taking to the cringey 'laddish' behaviour. It does feel a little (comparatively) toned down though, I will say. The cast are the cast, none of them are anything amazing but they do commit to their roles in fairness. Terry Stone, Craig Fairbrass and Roland Manookian reprise their roles, which I do like as I'm all for cast continuity when it comes to a film series. One newcomer is Vinnie Jones, who shockingly hasn't appeared in any of the preceding flicks - how? I'm not sure. He's alright, bringing the quintessential hardman act. I mentioned it in my review of the preceding entry, but again I have no idea how they've made this many Footsoldier films ... and this one got a cinema release! I bet they're somehow cooking up a sixth entry as we speak.

This must hold the record for the most bald-headed angry shouty geezers ever! A crude, unbelievable 5th entry in the series, I believe it is the third prequel in the collection. Although making a claim that it is a teuw atory, there is very little plot going on here, just a parade of thuggish acts and revenge beatings, scheiving very little. Perhaps a 6th film can explain it all.