We Still Steal the Old Way

Enjoyed being carried along by the charm and wit of this light hearted gangster flick. Perfectly cast

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!

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.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Richie (Ian Oglivy) and the gang return, this time to pull off a heist in a bank vault, with the express intention of being caught. They are sent inside, and reunited with their old friend Briggsy (Patrick Bergin), who they want to break out in order that he can be reunited with his dying wife. However, as an old friend is returned, so is an old enemy in the shape of Vic Farrow (Billy Murray), a nasty piece of work who wants to initiate a war with his side and theirs as the breakout commences.

While 2014's We Still Kill the Old Way, from the same director, Sacha Bennett, may have seemed like quite a throwaway, irrelevant gangster flick, it obviously spawned enough of a cult following that this follow up piece has been made. Another attempt to blend the old school crime caper with a more modern, hard hitting style, despite a different premise, Bennett has produced a result much the same, which means that this is pretty much as average as the last film. And it doesn't help that Stealing doesn't carry quite the same dramatic impact as Killing.

Although, as others have noted, stealing isn't even what the plot revolves around, as much as a break out, which is a trade descriptions breach if ever there was one. It's clear from the commentary afterwards that Bennett was trying to pull off a fun filled vibe to the films (which he hopes to repeat with another one!), but there are times when it threatens to interfere with the tone of the film, in the shape of some awfully choreographed fight sequences, and a wobbly mixture of darkness and light, such as Vince Blackwood's murderer character, who provides an uneasy resolve in the end pay-off.

There's a notable chemistry between the characters, and they feed off each other well, and Murray is always a great villain, but, ultimately, this will leave no more or less an impression on you than the last one. **

There were some silly bits and some sugary bits, but I was happy to overlook them because overall it was a lot of fun. No doubt it helps to be of a certain age and to remember British TV of the 80s.