ID2: Shadwell Army

If you like the original movie, don't bother with this very loosely connected sequel. Unlike the original, this movie has nothing to say. The only reason I watched it is because it was included on the I.D. blu-ray.

There is no build up. The main character (a generous use of that word) goes into a pub and talks to a stand up comedian, and bam, four minutes into the movie he's part of the hooligans. It wasn't until after the film was finished and I watched the making of documentary that I realized that the stand up comedian was one of the four policemen from the original movie, something which was never established in the movie.

Remember the original where it was imperative for the policemen to establish trust with the hooligans, pretending to be painters having lunch in the pub to get of first name basis with the staff etc? No time for that here, we have to get to the poorly executed fight scenes quickly!

This movie neither a police procedural, nor a thriller or character study. It's amateur hour all the way through. It boggles the mind that this movie was written by the same person who wrote the original. And I have no idea who the director is, but if this movie is representative of his work, I have zero interest in watching another movie by that guy.

The only thing I liked in this movie was the exchange between the right wing extremist politician and his dunce of a brown shirt storm trooper. It beautifully sums up the schizophrenia in the extreme right.

Not exactly picking off where the first film ended,The viewer will find themselves thrust into the rough end of London and mixing it with the hard men who run the manors. Mo, an Asian cop (read: Muslim) undercover with Shadwell FC attempts to infiltrate the clubs firm and shut it down from the inside. Along the way he meets an other undercover officer with a different type of mission and the two men become allies. The action isn't as realistic as the original and the story is kind of hackneyed. One saving grace is the return of lovable tard Gumbo, who appeared in the original and offers some light comic relief. All in all this has too cheap a feel to it and the fights scenes are simply not realistic enough.

There's no point in saying much about this film, just watch ID, the Original 1995 movie, this isn't a worthy of the name! Pretty awful idea of the 2nd, 20 years later.

It retains almost nothing of the first. If only Gumbo.

Ok so nothing is going to beat the original. Yes it's low budget but the script and acting make the plot plausible. Give it a shot for an enjoyable trip down memory Lane with Gumbo.

For those of you who remember the mid-nineties hooligan film ID, forget it, this is so loosely related they may as well have just called it Shadwell Army.

There's a couple of decent performances (Pearson csn play a smarmy guy like no other) but fundamentally there is nothing that stands out or makes you remember the actor or the character. The story has some good ideas, but the 3xecution lacks something, and it feels like a made for TV movie.

You're much better off watching the original or investing your time in Footsoldier or Green Street.