pilkkari Well to the fans of the original movie this offers pretty much nothing. To be quite honest, this movie would have been much better without the tag of Carlito's Way but it's a money making scheme and there's nothing wrong with that.The movie is just lighthearted mob-like fun and I thought it was nice to see Mario van Peebles in a different role for a change (not as a b-movie hero that kicks butt). The movie just tells about Carlito and his drug dealings and networking around the time he was young. Basically I just liked the movie and there's even a small twist in the end which I won't spoil. But if you're looking for a serious movie about the mob or a serious prequel to Carlito's Way, then don't pick this title up. As I said, this basically has nothing to do with the original masterpiece but as a mob "fan" I'd give this a 6/10. Lighthearted but kind of fun.

jgk-6 This is just a butchering of a wonderful story by Edwin Torres. This movie doesn't follow the storyline in the book. And, there are so many inconsistencies with the original movie that you have to wonder if the screenwriter had even seen the first movie.Al Pacino (the original and still the best Carlito) gets out of prison at the start of the original one. Here, Carlito retires with his woman in paradise. What happened to Gail from Lorain, Ohio? In this installment, she isn't mentioned, and Carlito retires with and presumably will marry some other girl.Also, where is Kleinfeld? I think he was in the first book.I also like how Mr. Guzman plays a totally different character in this film. He was Pachanga back in the Pacino days. Now, he is Nacho Reyes, a killer from Cuba. I remember that Nacho Reyes had a much bigger role in the book. It's been a while since I read the book, but where did Sean Comb's character come from? Also, I think this movie really glosses over the racial tensions in Harlem that Torres was writing about. And, the mob doesn't get the treatment that they did in the book. They are also wiped out in this movie. But, magically the Pleasant Avenue bunch is around for the second movie.The book told a great story. This movie could have told a great story. This is just a huge disappointment. Read the book. It's a better use of your time.

SCVUnlimited101 The movie wasn't bad. This comment isn't for people who haven't seen the movie, its for people who didn't understand the movie, like a number of the people commenting this board.The movie is called "Carlito's Way: RISE TO POWER," hence why it displayed him rising to power. Had it been called something like, "Carlito's Way: Rise to Power and The His Arrest," or something to that extent I Would have been disappointed in the lack of jail time at the end of the movie too.This movie did just what it had planned to do, it showed Carlito's Rise to Power which involved pushing heroin, dealing with Nicky, dating Leticia, and his involvement with the Italians. Basically, him rising to power, and gaining his immense wealth. That's the movie. It's a prequel because it comes before Carlito's Way, the sequel.It obviously didn't tell of his relationship with Gail, or what put him in jail. Perhaps that's for a story of another movie. Say Carlito is in his late 20s to early 30s, I don't know his age, and then say he's in his late 40s when played by Al Pacino. Therefore there's still about 15 years unexplained if not more. I can't recall how many years he was in jail before "Carlito's Way" but if it was less than ten they'd have to skip around 5 years at the end of "Rise to Power" to get to him being put in jail. That would have confused you even more.If you happen to think that a prequel MUST lead up to a sequel, you'd be incorrect. One of the most popular sagas of all time shows you this. In Star Wars Episode 1, Anakin is a child, next thing you know he's a grown man. What happened in between? How was puberty for a Jedi? All the questions in between are unanswered, whether you ask them or not. The prequel did not simply lead you through every second until the sequel. Episode 3 is the prequel to Episode 4, but Luke's entire life is unanswered. Doesn't make Episode 3 a horrible prequel does it?If you want, make up your own "Carlito's Way: Downfall," I don't care, but don't say it was a horrible movie. It was a well done movie and well acted. It showed you a portion of Carlito's life you hadn't seen before. If you can't get over the fact that they didn't lead up to his arrest, then you're missing out on a good movie for a dumb reason.

chaclark This movie had potential and I was willing to give it a try but there are so many timeline problems that are so obvious - it's hard to swallow being treated like such an idiot.Rise to Power is set in the late sixties. Carlito's Way is set in the mid to late seventies. For this movie to be realistic, it would have to be set in the fifties, if not the late forties.Rise to Power has no sign of Gail (Pennelope Ann Miller), no sign of Kleinfeld, no sign of Rolando that Carlito supposedly ran with in his "hey-day". None of the primary characters in the original film were in this movie. We're supposed to believe that Carlito met all these people in the span of a few years.Rise to Power ends with Carlito walking down the beach talking about retiring in paradise which is what he wanted to do in the original film. Also, the pre-quel creates the Rocco and Earl characters - what's supposed to happen with them since they are clearly not in Carlito's Way? It's also hard to understand how Carlito could have the relationship with the Italians he has in the original film watching the events of Rise to Power. Where are the Taglialucci's in this film? There is probably seven years between the two films and he spends five of them in prison. It's like trying to put a square plug into a round hole.It is obvious that no one was interested in telling a good story and that they were more interested in making some bucks by making an average gangster film and throwing a character called Carlito Brigante into the story. The film had some good moments but I think they would have been better off leaving this movie to stand by itself instead of trying to make it a prequel to Carlito's Way.If you feel determined to see this movie, the only advice I can give is to not think of the movie as a linear pre-quel. Think of it like the spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood's man with no name, in other words two movies that have the same character but aren't necessarily connected with each other.