leonblackwood Review: I really wasn't expecting that much from this film, especially when I saw that it had something to do with the Rettendon killings but it actually turned out to be quite entertaining. The raw, intense and gritty storyline was, surprisingly, quite gripping and the Essex backdrop was put together well. The violence, sex and foul language did go a bit over the top but that was expected from this English, gangster type movie, which was based in Essex, at a time when the Rettendon murders were still in people's minds. All of the actors put in a decent performance, and they made the movie seem extremely real but the person that I was most impressed with was Ricci Harnett (Carlton Leach), who was pretty brutal and unlikable at the beginning but he found some redemption towards the end. When Carlton finally decides to "Knock It On The Head", to live the quiet life with his family, he is pushed to limit and his past catches up with him, so I would like to see a 3rd instalment, to finally see if he has turned his bad ways, to the good. The only downfall about this film is that there are a lot of movies in this genre which, are the same in many ways but I still stayed interested throughout, and I found it quite enjoyable. Round-Up: This movie was also directed by Ricci Harnett, who played the leading role, so he really did give this project his all. The London born actor/writer/director has also starred in movies like 28 Days Later, Vendetta starring Danny Dyer, Top Dog, the impressive Ill Manors, the Rise & Fall of a White Collar Hooligan, and some TV series like the Bill, Buried and Dubplate Drama. He also starred in the first instalment of this movie, so he wasn't new to the project. Anyway, for his directorial debut, I personally think that he done a good job with this movie and his acting was top form but it would be good to see him tackle another genre, because this one has been done to death.I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime movies starring Ricci Harnett, Steven Berkoff, Luke Mably, Craig Fairbrass, Terry Stone and Tygo Gernandt. 4/10

FlashCallahan 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.

Theo Robertson The original RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER was unfortunate in that it arrived very belatedly in an era when most British films seemed inspired by Guy Ritchie . There's only some much mileage you can squeeze out of a formula so by the time RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER came out everyone had become bored by mockney gangsters . That said I found Julian Gilbey's true life crime movie to be rather underrated and if there was a British equivalent of GOODFELLAS that might have been it . Crime doesn't pay ? Tell me about it . Despite this the idea of a sequel seems needless and I can see why this continuation of Carlton Leach's life story came and went without the slightest fanfare In its favour director and star Ricci Harnett concentrates on continuity with the prior film . Some of the cast are resurrected and we have the same look and feel as the 2007 . There is a slight difference and that where Leach became a very peripheral character in the second half of RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER here he appears in nearly every scene and is the constant central character of the narrative This leads to a fundamental problem though . While the lives of Tate , Rolfe and Tucker were unremittingly violent and made the first film compelling here there's considerably less violence which makes for a less compulsive film . Don't get me wrong , you won't confuse this with Walt Disney family fare but this tends to draw your attention to another aspect - self justification . Carlton you see isn't really a bad man and only maims and beats people who deserve it and the understated violence is only inflicted on people who deserve . Perhaps even worse there's an element of redemption running through the narrative subtext but how does a former West Ham ICF thug and gangster redeem himself ? The answer is he probably can't . It's not a bad film but if you need convincing that crime doesn't pay the message has been spelled out in better films without trying to elicit sympathy from the audience

everitt-47106 I was at the premiere of this film from the beginning of the night to the end of the night it was a brilliant event I thoroughly enjoyed the film and I thought considering it was one of the actors directorial debut i thought he turned out a brilliant effort both directing and acting and I thought all of the actors were brilliant and if you want to see a all round film this is for you it had everything the story was really well told and had a load of depth to it and to top it off the question and answers session after was the icing on the cake i can't wait for this to come out on DVD and all the people that didn't get to see it at the cinema you should definitely get the DVD/Blu Ray as it is well worth the money you won't regret it