Gangstas

As a Belgian you could say I'm a bit biased but nothing could be further from the truth as I always review movies and series as honestly as possible. Sure I have a soft spot for directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, I just like their style of filmmaking, like I do as well for Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and Martin Scorsese. I'm not comparing them to them as each have their own style but visually it's all very appealing to the eye. Unfortunately I didn't see their first movie Patser, or Gangsta for the English title, but if it was of the same quality as Patsers, or Gangstas for the English title, I will for sure give it a shot. Some other reviewer was apparently disappointed by this sequel so I guess the first one was even better. The main reason I liked this one is that they got their inspiration for certain scenes of the plot from real life events in Antwerpen where there is a major drug problem in the harbour and city. The action scenes were really good as was the acting from the entire cast. I can only recommend this action movie, certainly if you like fast paced action with original storytelling.

I have never been a big fan of the work of Adil & Bilall, I think it is very derivative and caters to the lowest common denominator. European movies trying to emulate Hollywood always fall flat and do does this. The plot is "straight from the headlines" and there is extensive use of voiceover to explain EU, Schengen, import procedures, but none of that matters if one scene later they just drive a car onto the quay. None of the characters are very sympathetic and of course the main bad guy is a white dude (who is the only one who had some funny lines at least). So yes, this is better than their Bad Boys films (honestly even the VHS tapes of family walks my dad shot in the 80s are) but it is not a good film, it does not work as an arthouse film (check for example the Pusher trilogy to see a European movie set in the drug trafficking scene for a successful example) and it doesn:'t work as a blockbuster.