The Rise of the Krays

I have always been interested in the Krays. I have read most of the books about them and I also enjoyed the 1990 film with the Kemp brothers, which was flawed and left a great deal of things out, but became a cult film. The Rise Of The Krays, however, makes the Kemp film look like a masterpiece in comparison. I only watched it for half an hour and I thought it was absolute rubbish. It featured violence just for the sake of it, no coherent plot, was obviously made on a shoestring and featured no actors that I had actually heard of before. To make matters even worse, the two actors playing the Krays didn't look like them at all! The comment on the cover of the DVD states that this is, apparently, "The Best British Gangster Film Ever", which is complete rubbish. This is, without doubt, the worst film I have seen for a long time and anyone who knows anything about the Krays' story would soon spot glaring mistakes. It is a blatant rip-off of the 1990 film and an obvious cash-in on the new Legend film starring Tom Hardy as the twins. He looks more like the Krays than the two jokers in this film. Honestly, just don't waste your time or money on this rubbish. If you want to know more about the Krays, then I suggest you read one of the books about them, which are infinitely more accurate and tell a fuller picture than this film. You will thank me for it, trust me. Even the 1990 film is better than this.

This is a good example of when the writer and director get together and try to be artsy. Most of the dialog isn't bad, and most of the acting is at least par. But man they have these scenes, slow mo, and in "space" that just sink this movie. It's like they were looking for 40 minutes of filler to extend this crap into some series instead of just telling the story. They weren't even montage worth scenes, it's like they watched pulp fiction and tried to implement it but failed full out. They took up such a large portion of this first part that it was almost unwatchable. The story of the Krays has so much potential, however you won't see that here! It's simply not scripted well enough to make the story of two kick ass twin brother gangsters good. With so much source material it's a sad statement that they couldn't get it right. You can not simply depict people as crazy by having slow mo space screens with them holding a gun. What ever this director was thinking when he shot this, or the write was thinking when they wrote it just makes my head hurt. This movie is exhibit A on what not to do when writing a movie.

This film is terrible. Where to start? Poor acting, no idea where they got the guy who played Reggie from but I've seen more character in a wooden spoon. No proper research was clearly done into the Krays which makes the film hard to watch and cringe worthy in parts. The fact that the "twins" looked and acted a million miles apart pretty much sums it up. It's offensive that this film was even produced under the name of the Krays and I agree with other users that the logic behind the film was simply to milk the subject for all it's worth. Best advice would be to save your time and money and either watch Legend or read one of John Pearson's novels on the Krays, both of which at least do the subject some justice.

This is another attempt at the story of the Kray twins who terrorised London's East End starting in the early 1960s. UK resident will know of the Kray twins as they had quite a reputation. Their portrayal in this movie is laughable. They come across as misunderstood, well meaning brats which they certainly weren't. As far as pure entertainment goes the movie is a first class clanger. The story of the Krays has been done before and was a considerably better effort than this latest version. Obviously made on a tight budget and full of historical inaccuracies, it is dull and at most times, embarrassing and painful to watch. I humbly suggest that you do yourself a huge favour, steer clear of this dud and wait for the release of "Legend" with Tom Hardy which I imagine will be infinitely better.

Unlike many reviewers of this film I haven't got a great knowledge of the Krays. I thought the film was flawed and mis-titled. The fact that neither actor looks like the Krays didn't really matter ( neither did the Kemp brothers) it was more the story of Ronnie Kray, portrayed as a victim of severe mental illness, absurd delusions of grandeur , paranoia, sadistic tendencies etc. It showed the brothers as driven by uncontrolled anger, ambition, a force of evil but without any real plan .They gained predominance in the criminal underworld by their extra willingness to go that extra mile in violence and savagery, especially Ronnie whose total abandonment to dark forces made it inconceivable that that profits from their extortion rackets could ever be diverted into sustainable 'non-criminal' businesses, and grain them any veneer of respectability. The lack of plot in the film reflected well the lack of ability the Krays had to plan ahead or make any shrewd , intelligent decisions. Their forté was merciless violence and sadism which saved them from the need for any foresight. In its portrayal of Ronnie , the film captured the eye of the storm which was Ronnie Kray, a vacuum of humanity sucking in, and throwing out everything in its path. Simon Cotton's portrayal of a psychopath captured an unimaginable anger and hatred mixed with a sense of observation and removal from his own actions and was an inspired performance.

The film was a depiction of a post war deprivation, poverty , social injustice and its consequences. The Krays were vicious predators but also victims themselves.