Gangsta

I don't understand people talking crap about this movie. It is one of the best acting in Belgian movie history. Brought to you by Adil & Bilal. The same guys that are about to produce Bad Boys 3... It is well written based on true events.

The writing is okay, albeit cliché, and I enjoyed the Morrocon Belgian culture since I grew up with a lot of Morrocon Belgians. Matteo Simoni however was really unconvincing as a Morrocon. Like, think James Franco in Spring Breakers unconincing. Not even mentioning his really forced accent; They also tried to kinda imitate the neon-y vaporwave feeling but they only did it like 3 times which made it feel really out of place, as the rest of the movie didn't fit the same "neon" feel.

The story was okay but I got kinda put off by how forced the whole thing felt. I feel like some of the cast just didn't fit at all. They wouldn't found better people to play the main guys just walking through the Sleepstraat once.

As an inhabitant of Antwerp I can say this movie really captured the coke culture in the city. There are some nice insider jokes in the movie referring to real situations (the cops ripping off illegal immigrants, the stolen Colombian coke that set of a drug war) and characters (the black Amsterdam dealer,), so the script ain't no fantasy. All this mixed with an eighties pop/neon/Miami Vice-shooting makes this one of the best action movies I've seen in a long time.

When this movie came out I added it in my to-watch list but then for some reason I completely forgot about it. It's only after watching the sequel Patsers (or Gangstas for the English title) that I realized I just watched the sequel before the original. It doesn't really matter though as you can easily watch both movies in any order although it is better to start with the original. I liked both of them equally. I really like the style of directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Their way of making movies is special and if they get the right budget they will make other gems in the future. Patser is mostly fiction, but you can't deny they got their inspiration in the messed up drug scene of Antwerpen and the Netherlands that at one point got seriously out of hand. To this day, and I'm writing this in 2025, it's still very much the same, still going wrong. The acting is very good and that from the entire cast. I watched the two movies in a couple of days and I can only say that they are quality entertainment.

The movie has a pretty good storyline. The special effects were on point.