We Still Steal the Old Way

Sequel to the 2014 We Still Kill the Old Way, the majority of the original cast return for a superior outing.

This time the Archer gang are up for a prison escape, but can the old timers still do it using the "Old ways"?

Truth be told I had a great appreciation for the first film despite only hitting it with a 5/10. It was very well made but the realism and subject matter made me a tad uncomfortable and it damaged the film for me. This time around most of that subject matter is absent and with the same cast and fantastic writing it was logically bound to be better.

Sadly also absent is James Cosmo who played Arthur in the first film, he was a great character and he was missed. Thankfully the remaining cast are present and do a fantastic job without him as well as the new villian Billy Murray and fellow industry veteran Patrick Burgin.

A third movie has been announced but the more I look into it the more I get the impression its been cancelled or at best delayed. I'd love to see this rounded out into a trilogy because regardless of my opinions on the first film they're very well made movies.

The Good:

Well put together

Solid cast

The Bad:

Violence looks oddly tame in places

No James Cosmo

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

America is no longer the home of the free and the brave.............actually I already knew that one

The only reason I can muster as to why I put myself through the at times excruciatingly cringe-worthy plot devices and acting of this badly cobbled together and cliched East-Ender gangster movie, is the fact that I respect the seniority and skill of some of the more well-known actors who bizarrely and for reasons only known to them, graced this flick. Also the fact that I'd allowed for the prequel to this one pass in front of my eyes and thought I'd torture myself just a little further as I've just realised I must be a sucker for punishment. I would like to add that I'm not undermining in any way the effort, money and commitment it must take from all parties involved for any given film project to get off the ground but I am a firm supporter of the idea that if you're gonna do something, for pete's sake do it proper and at least use the real 'One Million Years B.C.' poster featuring the jaw-droppingly stunning Raquel Welch!

The problem with making a gangster film with a bunch of geriatric actors is that they are too old for the action scenes. So here we get a bunch of old actors talking about what it was like back in the old days and swearing a lot.

Richie Archer and his crew are back, caught in the middle of a heist in a bank vault but it was really a ruse to get inside a prison to help break out their old pal George Briggs whose wife is seriously ill with Alzheimer's.

Trouble is another gangster, Vic Farrow who is inside another prison also has an interest in George, but to get rid off him rather than help him escape.

We Still Steal the Old Way is a dismal film, too slow, it has little action and when we do get a prison riot at the end, it is laughably badly staged. It lacks the wicked wit of the first film which frankly was not even that good in the first place.

I absolutely loved the first movie, We Still Kill The Old Way. I caught it by chance last week whilst staying in a hotel, never heard of it before, but for some reason it drew me in with it's old school teach-the-kids-a-lesson tip of the cap to Lock Stock and Reservoir Dogs feel. I loved that so much that I went and looked it up and found there was a second film, couldn't wait to get it on! After an hour, couldn't wait to get it off! I couldn't finish it, seriously I turned it off 20 minutes before the end. The acting is terrible, the plot has nothing to do with stealing anything... I thought this would be an Oceans 11 type of a deal but nope, it's based around a prison break! The story is packed full of cringey lines trying too hard to make you care about the characters and their past but it just fails with half assed lines like "remember how we did this and remember you did that" so much it becomes distracting. If this was animated it would be like a scooby doo cartoon at times. I'm genuinely sad at how bad this was after being so pulled in by the first film. Shame. The idea of old retired gangsters coming back to mop up the scroats of today had some top potential, but its squandered over here.

I'm not one to usually review a movie on here, even if bad. This movie had me going as I love heist movies or anything to do with robbing in general. This movie is incredibly slow paced, and could have been made into a good movie. It's really tough to watch, and by the end you do feel as though you just eagerly wasted two hour's of your life. I waited for the good ending and it never came. I'm curious how "Going in Style" is though as I think it'll make up for watching this junk.