Pusher

The original version of Pusher from Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn was an excellent crime-thriller with a stand-out performance from Kim Bodnia. This British remake stars Richard Coyle in the central role. Its narrative is really very similar to the original. It means that if you know the original then there aren't really too many surprises here. Nevertheless, this is a remake put together with some energy and style. And Coyle is very good in the central role.

The story like before depicts the downfall of a pusher who loses a kilo of cocaine worth £55,000 when he is busted. Milo the Mediterranean gangster who supplied him with the gear demands his money back within two days. This leads to an escalation of violence.

Zlatko Buric reprises his role of Milo the crime boss, which he memorably played in the original. Once again he is a scene stealer throughout. Although it's basically Richard Coyle's movie, he is in more or less every scene, and he propels the narrative. It's a story that has a real inertia. It's fast paced and has real energy. It's helped hugely here by the soundtrack by Orbital. Even when these guys were in their heyday in the 90's their music always had a film score feel to it, so it's no surprise that their music here fits the film so well.

Director Luis Prieto holds everything together well and ensures that there is a stylish look to go along with the grit. Although, I wouldn't say that this is an improvement on the original. It's just too similar. But on its own terms it is a good, energetic crime-thriller with some great performances.

Nothing wrong with this film but when you've seen the original it pails in comparison. The original had style, it had first class acts and personalities that felt real and the situations were scary and threatening. This remake is tame and embarrassing to watch. Hearing the old lines delivered with British accents completely kills the script...even seeing Milo back was uncomfortable! Trust me, the original is a 10 out of 10 for me but this...this is lame...almost laughable BUT it did still hold up as a decent crime thriller but only just and I feel I'm being generous!

I can't think of any reason to see this other than boredom...or curiosity! ...just watch the original... ;)

PUSHER was a strong and vivid little Danish crime thriller, made by Nicolas Winding Refn back in 1996. It was the start of what has become a successful Hollywood career, and obviously at some point somebody had the grand of idea of shooting an English-language remake. Unfortunately, this remake is completely redundant for anybody who's seen the original. It's a scene-for-scene copy, one of those which I hate, and other than the different backdrops and actors everything plays out almost exactly the same. And, somewhat inevitably, it's an inferior product to the first film in every respect.

The cast just don't scream authenticity here as they did in the original film. Richard Coyle is a selfish, mean-spirited protagonist and I found myself actively wishing for his demise. Bronson Webb takes the Mads Mikkelsen role from the first film and is absolutely awful, going way over the top without any attempt at restraint. The only decent performance comes from Zlatko Buric, making a welcome turn from the Danish film and playing the same role.

Inevitably the sex, violence, and profanity are ramped up from the original movie, but the script feels lowbrow and director Luis Prieto is no Nicolas Winding Refn, that's for sure. His attempts at style, with the camera speeding around his protagonist while thumping music plays, just feel dated and very 1999. Not a good film at all.

Although there is nothing seriously wrong with the movie, it is however a pointless remake of a superior product. Basically the only point of the movie is to cash in the 'executive producers' name/previous work. The performances of most of the actors was adequate, however I would advise anyone interested in the themes and concepts explored in this sub- standard remake to watch the original (in fact watch all 3 of the Pusher trilogy, although 2 and 3 seem a little rushed they remain better quality than this version). Having said that; it was good to see Zlatko Buric in a role in this film.- hmmm only nine lines and just like my friend said to me last night: 'I need another line'. ANyway I give Pusher (2012) 4/10 and thats Pushing it...

For some strange reason, I thought this film being executive produced by NWR would render better results. Alas, I was duped again by marketing.

I should have known. After all, what made the original Pusher (and it's two sequels) great was not the very basic, over told story, but rather the style of NWR's direction, the performances of the actors and the very real time nature of the film.

The directing here is quite pedestrian and downright lazy, bringing nothing of the style of the original. The acting is decent, but again we've already seen this done better.

And by the way, this film was already remade two years ago in India.

Every director has movies they just LOVE and would want to emulate. For such a basic story, this director could have come up with any one of many basic "drug deal gone bad" stories and used his style to tell it. Unfortunately, this film takes the easy way out, trying to simply capitalize on the name of the original, without elevating it.