We Still Steal the Old Way

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.

Truth be told, I had very mixed feelings about 2014's 'We still kill the old way.' The concept was great and it boasted a swell cast, but the writing was uneven, and the energy and impact it should have had just wasn't there. Far be it from me to say "never again," though; I'll watch just about anything, and with a sequel to follow, well, it was all but inevitable I'd watch it eventually. No sooner has 'We still steal the old way' begun than it starts to form certain impressions. The core cast returns, with Lysette Anthony also reprising her supporting part, all to my delight. Filmmaker Sacha Bennett and his collaborators illustrate fine capability and finesse in all the fundamentals: direction, cinematography, lighting, editing, effects, production design, art direction, costume design, and so on and so on. There's some wit and charm in the dialogue and scene writing. And there's also this: this 2016 feature also readily recalls the modern 'Ocean's' heist flicks, socially minded crime flicks like 'Going in style' or 'Golden years,' or like TV series like 'Leverage,' and so on and so on.

All this seems well and good on paper; in practice, it immediately comes across as Too Much. It is especially Too Much in light of plot, and plot development, that feels emphatically forced and downright scrambled, as though Bennett and his co-writers were wracked to pull something together. My favor is not bolstered by the juxtaposition of the anticipated class and cleverness with crudeness and chewing of scenery; some beats are decidedly rushed as they present. The picture also seems too smart and snappy for its own good, an all too familiar difficulty of style over substance in pretty much every regard. That's not to say that it's not made well, that there aren't good ideas, or that it's not entertaining. I admit I'm partial to Anthony, owing to her part in one of my personal favorite movies ('Krull'); of the feature itself, I think my favorite aspect may be the portrayal of the continuation of underworld powerplays and dynamics within the institutional setting. I do, in fact, like 'We still steal the old way.' Is it anything that anyone specifically needs to see? Maybe not so much.

I've been awfully critical of the picture up to this point, and that's not entirely fair. While I think it's overly slick, it's crafted well such as it is, with every component part having received great attention. It may be overdone, but Bennett is no slouch. The cast make the most of what they're given to work with. There's intelligence underlying all the construction here - would only that there were more care to let it be more impactful, more meaningful, more of its own self, or to just simply Be. Like its predecessor, 'We still steal the old way' struggles to make itself truly be felt, even in its moments of the most violence, dark story beats, or cheeky levity, and that's as much due to a lack of vibrancy as to its overbearing tack of fashion over function, sometimes overcooked indulgence over storytelling judiciousness. For that matter, it struggles with an uneven tone, and when one stops to consider The Plan as it is presented to us, it seems all too neat and clean, an invention of Movie Magic.

When all is said and done I think 'We still steal the old way' is pretty much on par with 'We still kill the old way,' but that sadly is not much of a compliment. Yes, there is entertainment value here, but it's the type to engage with passively, without thinking about very much; the more you do, the less esteem it can sustain. Is this enough? I suppose that's for each person to decide on their own. For my part I don't regret watching this, but I still think my time would have probably been better spent on something else. Oh well. Leave it for a lazy day when you're bored and don't want to totally get invested in something; there are worse ways to spend your time.

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.

I'm not one to usually review a movie on here, even if bad. This movie had me going as I love heist movies or anything to do with robbing in general. This movie is incredibly slow paced, and could have been made into a good movie. It's really tough to watch, and by the end you do feel as though you just eagerly wasted two hour's of your life. I waited for the good ending and it never came. I'm curious how "Going in Style" is though as I think it'll make up for watching this junk.

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. **