The Rise of the Krays (2015) User Reviews

Ignore this, wait for Hardy, and stick with Spandau....

[FlashCallahan · 4/10 · 31 August 2015]

London, 1961: Ronnie and Reggie Kray begin a reign of terror that would endure and define London's East End for years to come.

From protection rackets to members clubs, from brutal street brawls, arson via blackmail, extending all the way up to the Cabinet Office, the Krays rained red on anyone who crossed them......

So this is part one of a two part straight to Sunday night TV drama which has been given more recognition because the makers want to cash in on the forthcoming 'Legend' adaptation.

And this is all the movie is, a blatant cash-in on the titular Brothers, and their notorious rise to power. But the biggest crime on show here is just how the makers have ruined such a rich and interesting source? Anyone from the age of thirty onwards would know the story of The Krays, and the Medak's version of accounts has become something of a cult since its release, even that awful mess 'Assassin' had The Kemps in minor roles as criminal siblings, referencing their casting.

Even though they were criminals, The Krays have become cultural icons, referenced in Morrissey's Last Of The International Playboys, and always in the back of the mind of many gangster films made since the seventies.

But here, they are depicted as spoilt brats who just go around giving people a few tasty slaps and quickly winning the monopoly of what seems to be one street in London.

Credit where credits due though, it has a wonderful feel to it, but when anyone opens their mouth, we are into below sub Guy Ritchie territory, and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say these gangster films should be taking outside and given a Chelsea smile.

All in all is a disgraceful cash in that will soon be forgotten.

One to ignore.

way to ruin a good story.

[ericnottelling · 4/10 · 12 September 2015]

This is a good example of when the writer and director get together and try to be artsy. Most of the dialog isn't bad, and most of the acting is at least par. But man they have these scenes, slow mo, and in "space" that just sink this movie. It's like they were looking for 40 minutes of filler to extend this crap into some series instead of just telling the story. They weren't even montage worth scenes, it's like they watched pulp fiction and tried to implement it but failed full out. They took up such a large portion of this first part that it was almost unwatchable. The story of the Krays has so much potential, however you won't see that here! It's simply not scripted well enough to make the story of two kick ass twin brother gangsters good. With so much source material it's a sad statement that they couldn't get it right. You can not simply depict people as crazy by having slow mo space screens with them holding a gun. What ever this director was thinking when he shot this, or the write was thinking when they wrote it just makes my head hurt. This movie is exhibit A on what not to do when writing a movie.

Cheap And Confused And Cynical Cash In

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 27 December 2015]

Tom Hardy plays Reggie and Ronnie Kray ? Hey let's make a tie in movie and release it straight to DVD . Don't worry about developing it because the other film will market this one so it's just a case of releasing our film first

That's the impression I got and THE RISE OF THE KRAYS is painfully under-developed . As the other commentators have pointed out the titular characters are played by actors who bare little resemblance to the twins . Worse than that they're not good actors either . Simon Cotton is fairly dreadful as Ronnie and resembles a not very good actor playing an East End gangster . I suppose I should be charitable and say the cast and the rest of the production team were probably under heavy pressure with deadlines but even so the poor production values are a constant distraction

I can understand what director Zackary Adler tries to do with some scenes and that is to express in a cinematic style the mental illness Ronnie Kray suffers from , but considering the subject matter is an expressionistic film featuring violent gangsters really the place for a study of schizophrenia ? Probably not . Again to be charitable at least the production team don't come out with the old clichés of "Any old ladies getting mugged and he twins wanted to know about it . They stuck to their own , we were safe in those days etc etc" . The Krays are portrayed as unpleasant characters but this is also an unpleasant badly film too

A c grade movie of the twins

[mrrob-31532 · 2/10 · 1 September 2015]

There is an older version of this movie starring the Kemp brothers. At least they looked alike. These two actors bore no resemblance to each other. This is a cheap movie, badly acted, not true to the story and it jumps about all over the place. There is no chronological order to the Krays growing up and developing their psychopathic behaviour. The movie was a hard watch due to the poor character development. What we have here is a very loose film based around the twins with lots of violence. The twins mother was hugely influential on the boys but we don't see her. The drunken, wife beating and child beating father also doesn't get a mention. Save yourself 2 hours and read a book or go into the garden.

Hopeless.

Total Rubbish

[sqdb · 1/10 · 9 October 2015]

I have always been interested in the Krays. I have read most of the books about them and I also enjoyed the 1990 film with the Kemp brothers, which was flawed and left a great deal of things out, but became a cult film. The Rise Of The Krays, however, makes the Kemp film look like a masterpiece in comparison. I only watched it for half an hour and I thought it was absolute rubbish. It featured violence just for the sake of it, no coherent plot, was obviously made on a shoestring and featured no actors that I had actually heard of before. To make matters even worse, the two actors playing the Krays didn't look like them at all! The comment on the cover of the DVD states that this is, apparently, "The Best British Gangster Film Ever", which is complete rubbish. This is, without doubt, the worst film I have seen for a long time and anyone who knows anything about the Krays' story would soon spot glaring mistakes. It is a blatant rip-off of the 1990 film and an obvious cash-in on the new Legend film starring Tom Hardy as the twins. He looks more like the Krays than the two jokers in this film. Honestly, just don't waste your time or money on this rubbish. If you want to know more about the Krays, then I suggest you read one of the books about them, which are infinitely more accurate and tell a fuller picture than this film. You will thank me for it, trust me. Even the 1990 film is better than this.

Offensive

[luke-24940 · 1/10 · 24 September 2015]

This film is terrible. Where to start? Poor acting, no idea where they got the guy who played Reggie from but I've seen more character in a wooden spoon. No proper research was clearly done into the Krays which makes the film hard to watch and cringe worthy in parts. The fact that the "twins" looked and acted a million miles apart pretty much sums it up. It's offensive that this film was even produced under the name of the Krays and I agree with other users that the logic behind the film was simply to milk the subject for all it's worth. Best advice would be to save your time and money and either watch Legend or read one of John Pearson's novels on the Krays, both of which at least do the subject some justice.

Not a bad film but slightly disappointed as the film could have been much better I thought

[cjrocknroll · 6/10 · 26 August 2015]

Trailer looked great but the film I ended up feeling disappointed with. It started off well but then the story just seemed to be everywhere and the film mainly just concentrated on Ronnie and not much about Reggie, it was not well balanced in showing them both I thought. It also ended where it felt should been just beginning and left me thinking how can it end there??? who knows maybe they are going to release a second part. I preferred the version the Kemp brothers did in the original Krays film and am looking forward to seeing Tom hardy play The Krays in Legend. I have to say I am slightly disappointed and hoped for more from The Rise of the Krays (2015) film. It is not a bad film just nowhere near as good as thought it was going to be.

Read this review

[nyab · 1/10 · 3 November 2015]

Having watched both the Kemp brothers film and Tom Hardy's brilliant recent portrayal of the Twins I hadn't much hope for this film; and I was right to. Where to start?! Firstly, the actors bare no resemblance to the Krays in anyway (a fault of whoever cast them) but moreover the actors seemingly don't even attempt to impersonate their voices or mannerisms. Secondly, it's historically inaccurate to the point of hilarity. The relationship between the two brothers is all wrong- totally ignoring the fluctuation in power roles the two played throughout their lives. It makes no mention of both the brother's homosexuality apart from in passing, a major aspect of their lives, especially Ron's. The part where David Litvinoff is cut from ear to ear by Ron wasn't done by either of the Kray's in real life, although they did beat him up, it was another villain that inflicted the above on Litvinoff. How the creators of this film made the life story of two of the most notorious villains so boring I'll never know, that's an achievement in itself. To add insult to injury the financial backers of this film then have the temerity to leave 10/10 reviews on this site.

Do yourself a favour and don't watch this, instead go out and buy John Pearson's "The Cult of Violence" if you actually want an insight into the Krays.

Study of a psychopath

[mycatmimsy · 6/10 · 21 September 2021]

Unlike many reviewers of this film I haven't got a great knowledge of the Krays. I thought the film was flawed and mis-titled. The fact that neither actor looks like the Krays didn't really matter ( neither did the Kemp brothers) it was more the story of Ronnie Kray, portrayed as a victim of severe mental illness, absurd delusions of grandeur , paranoia, sadistic tendencies etc. It showed the brothers as driven by uncontrolled anger, ambition, a force of evil but without any real plan .They gained predominance in the criminal underworld by their extra willingness to go that extra mile in violence and savagery, especially Ronnie whose total abandonment to dark forces made it inconceivable that that profits from their extortion rackets could ever be diverted into sustainable 'non-criminal' businesses, and grain them any veneer of respectability. The lack of plot in the film reflected well the lack of ability the Krays had to plan ahead or make any shrewd , intelligent decisions. Their forté was merciless violence and sadism which saved them from the need for any foresight. In its portrayal of Ronnie , the film captured the eye of the storm which was Ronnie Kray, a vacuum of humanity sucking in, and throwing out everything in its path. Simon Cotton's portrayal of a psychopath captured an unimaginable anger and hatred mixed with a sense of observation and removal from his own actions and was an inspired performance.

The film was a depiction of a post war deprivation, poverty , social injustice and its consequences. The Krays were vicious predators but also victims themselves.

Find something else to do - go outside watch the grass grow

[alfredsmith · 2/10 · 3 September 2015]

This is another attempt at the story of the Kray twins who terrorised London's East End starting in the early 1960s. UK resident will know of the Kray twins as they had quite a reputation. Their portrayal in this movie is laughable. They come across as misunderstood, well meaning brats which they certainly weren't. As far as pure entertainment goes the movie is a first class clanger. The story of the Krays has been done before and was a considerably better effort than this latest version. Obviously made on a tight budget and full of historical inaccuracies, it is dull and at most times, embarrassing and painful to watch. I humbly suggest that you do yourself a huge favour, steer clear of this dud and wait for the release of "Legend" with Tom Hardy which I imagine will be infinitely better.

Edgy, Threatening, Psychotic & More . . .

[IMDbcoco · 9/10 · 19 September 2021]

I loved this . .

The period, tension and drama was captured really well.

(the 'back-drop' of great soundtracks was a huge bonus)

I felt this was gripping, invloving, brutal and (of course) disturbed.

The Kray's Rising!

[VikiLauda · 7/10 · 20 April 2016]

I bought this just last week, on an impulse purchase because I am just fascinated by the history of the Kray Twins, and I was not expecting much when I saw the reviews here....but... This film (and the Fall of the Kray's) is an awesome ride!! Unlike other Kray films this has no glitzy glamour to it. This is a warts and all account of two of Britain's most notorious gangsters, molded into a fascinating and compelling film, with superb acting and excellent cinematography. It is quite gory in places so it does deserve an 18 cert: But, dare I say, its "intelligently gory"? But what is a refreshing delight is that this film borrows some tricks from the best horror movies, in being, it swirls in suspense, and tension, making your mind race. And if it could get any better a lot of the scenes are shot on hand held, which gives you the impression you are in the room with them. (A frightening prospect if you were in a room with the Kray Twins!) I have studied the history of the Kray's for about 20 years, and this movie is the most accurate yet, right down to the smallest details, so well put together, I think even the Twins themselves would have been impressed! Anyway, here in the UK the DVD costs less than a single cinema ticket, and if you enjoy gangster biography or even horror (I am a massive horror fan!) you just might want to check this one out. So get some cold beers in, turn the lights off...and let the Kray Twins show you a back door into Hell!!

Awful to the end

[skinhead-5 · 2/10 · 4 September 2015]

This is an absolutely poor lose "remake" of the The Krays. Poorly filmed, awful scripting and a total mish-mash of babble. Not only that it would appear that whole budget was spent on fake blood that showed up quite a bit in the film. Indeed, it seems that the whole film just contained mindless violence for the sake of violence as it cheapish to produce on film.

Add to this the appalling locations and errors in sets e.g. "plastic double glazed windows" and modern cars it just make it more unbearable to watch. I seemed to of missed key points in their history due to sleep apnea! I really isn't worth the watch or the pain. At times in the film I wished they would of plucked my eyes out to save me the torture!

Diabolical

[manfourallseasons · 1/10 · 7 January 2016]

Make no mistake, this is a must miss movie. The principals perform like school children, who are dressed up for Halloween, but who find themselves with no proper party to go to. It's a bit like Bugsy Malone, only without the music and characters and story and necessary pizazz to make the grade. Seriously it's shocking. The writer must have made some poor producer an offer he couldn't refuse. It's that bad. Raised voices, chain smoking, preening and a general lack of lighting and stage props, are over used, out of sequence and quite unnecessarily at points, to compensate for the lack of accurate character portrayal, making it look unauthentic, almost like the outtakes from a poorly financed music video. Stick with Legend, it's far and away the most watchable adaptation to date.

Rubbish

[melodyrosewoods-208-366069 · 1/10 · 1 December 2015]

My first review and i write it because the story of the kray twins has been told and retold and as a Londoner im sure i knew about the kray twins before i understood who the queen was, So naturally i wanted to see this film. I feel i should say this film as a stand alone is not the worst thing I've watched but I have to say very much like the all the other reviews have mentioned this film has no real connection to the truth its terribly cast and doesn't hold true to the truth and the movie ends in the most ridiculous fashion asking if you arnt going to tell a story why make the film. I think its trying to be a prequel to 1990 Kemp version but its a rubbish prequel that accidentally ends up parody the The Krays 1990 not complementing it, which is sad as even the The Krays 1990 film had holes but this just seems pointless under acted under budget. And as many other reviews state is a way to cash in on the Legend movie with tom hardy (Can't Wait).they don't look like brothers which is a massive distraction its like releasing a movie claiming to depict The rise of Micheal Jackson and his Rise to fame leaving out his childhood and any part of his life after the realise of his first solo album. Don't waste your time or your money.

not bad

[mkapromotions · 3/10 · 31 August 2015]

if you forget its a film about the Krays then it isn't bad, as a biopic of the twins growing up unfortunately it is terrible, acting wise anyway, stories not to tuff and it is to jumpy like the 90's kray film, as viewers we want to know things we didn't know about that period in time about the twins or how the events went down, i know we have to wait for the fall of the Krays for this, but personally i was disappointed in the movie. Cant wait for legend hopefully they don't jump around the time scene and stick certain points that are relevant for Kray fans, i don't understand why it classes itself as the "best British gangster movie" its OK but far from the best.

Rise of the foot soldier is 80 times better personal opinion, and Legend will be even better than this!!

THE PRICE OF GREATNESS IS RESPONSIBILITY

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 4 October 2018]

Admittedly ignorant on the topic, I found the film interesting as a historical piece. Being amateur boxers allowed them to "one punch" anyone who got in the way. Their idea was to strike first and strike hard. Of the twins Ronnie(Simon Cotton) was menatlly unstable and was difficult to keep in check by his brother Reggie (Kevin Leslie). They controlled the East end and expanded into the West side once gambling became legal. The film showed their violence, gang wars and influence over politicians. I am eager to see the next installment.

The acting was a bit stiff for most of the characters who were sane, but the film was still enjoyable.

Guide: F-bomb. Brief nudity.

A film full of jokers

[leeharrisx · 1/10 · 28 September 2015]

Seriously, how the hell anyone could think this a good film is beyond me, ham acting, playing fast and loose with the facts and sentimental in its view of a couple of psychopaths.

It's too late for me but save yourself!

Apparently there is a minimum wordage to get your post published, which this film does not merit, So I will include some mindless gibberish as padding.

Your review does not contain enough lines - the minimum length for reviews is 10 lines of text. Please see the guidelines. Attempts to pad the comment with junk words can result in your account being blocked from future submissions.

"Never run away from anything,... Never!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 6 July 2017]

The DVD sleeve for "The Rise of the Krays" touts it as 'The Best British Gangster Film Ever Made', but that's a serious overstatement. Guy Ritchie did a much better job with "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". Those were fictional stories of course, but this one based on the real life Kray Brothers isn't nearly as compelling, and I was actually more enthralled by looking up a Wikipedia account of the brothers who ran an East London crime gang back in the Fifties and Sixties.

The film features it's share of bloody violence as befits the subject material, though it's usually Ronnie Kray (Simon Cotton) who doles out the punishment as opposed to more self controlled brother Reggie (Kevin Leslie). The brothers eventually come to blows when Reggie prefers to make nice with fellow Italian and Maltese mobsters by carving up sections of London each gang could control, rather than waste huge amounts of money and lives fighting each other. By this time, Ronnie is so paranoid and schizophrenic that his criminal life is interrupted by a stay at a mental asylum.

Without realizing there's a follow up film titled "The Fall of the Krays", I thought the picture did a disservice to it's viewers by not explaining what eventually happened with the Kray Brothers. The picture simply ends with Ronnie pondering his fate as lord and master of the London underworld. I imagine the sequel delves into their eventual arrest by the relentless detective, inspector Nipper Read (Danny Midwinter), but considering the way this was put together, I don't feel that compelled to bother with it. Of my current list of gangster films I've watched and reviewed here on IMDb, this one comes in number #75 out of 76 movies based on IMDb ranking order as I write this. That seems pretty lame for the best British gangster film ever made.

Appalling!!!

[julia-13378 · 1/10 · 31 May 2016]

This is the worst version of the Krays story I have ever seen! I've always been fascinated by the Krays and when it comes to movies - if I start watching them I usually have to finish them even if they're not great. This was different - half way through and I couldn't stand it any more. I felt like I was watching a fictional story or one of two entirely different people. It did nothing to grab my attention at all. The acting was unconvincing as was the general appearance of the twins as gangsters. The fact that they look nothing like each other doesn't help either. Diabolical! Don't waste any time on this. I spent the entire 55 minutes (which was all I could manage) just feeling bored by it!!

Excellent!!

[dlangley-59912 · 8/10 · 7 October 2021]

Well I got to admit, I'm surprised at some of the poor reviews! This was tough gritty uncompromising drama with an excellent young cast,plenty of menace,large smatterings of violence,great soundtrack and thoroughly entertaining! The two lads in the lead roles are excellent!! 👍

I quite liked it.

[thewolf-67697 · 7/10 · 3 July 2016]

I quite liked the movie.

Having watched all the movies regarding the Kray twins i found it an entertaining roller-coaster ride of the lives of the Kray twins on their rise to power and i would place it on a par with Legend and certainly better than the 1990 version.

The only black clouds preventing it from getting a higher score were a couple of glaring errors and the fact the the two main characters (meant to be portraying identical twins) don't actually look similar to each other (this is where Legend has the edge with both twins portrayed by the same actor).

But apart from that a good movie that is well worth a night in and definitely worth spending ten pounds on the DVD.

I look forward to watching the sequel.

Another inaccurate crime film glamourising psychopathic murderers

[mkm-hermanjnr · 2/10 · 26 March 2019]

It seems to be recurring theme that "factual" crime movies find it impossible to tell a real story about real criminals without embellishing, glamourising, and fictionalising almost every aspect. It's a trend that I'm getting rather tired of. I don't know why exactly people idolise sociopaths that murdered their way to a position of power, but clearly there is a public appetite for distorting the truth behind these villains.

When I looked at the synopsis for this film, it states that the crew wanted to make "a film that doesn't glamourise the Twins, but shows them for what they were." Well, they failed. Miserably.

Look up real photos of the Kray twins. They had big ears and faces like pudgy bricks. In The Rise of the Krays the twins and in fact their whole gang are portrayed by handsome male model actors who look like they spend their spare time modelling family friendly clothing.

This gentrification of two brutal thugs continues throughout for the entire movie. The film is constantly portraying them as downtrodden underdogs - even when they beat up a police officer, we then get a prolonged shot of the police beating up Ronnie in his cell just to cement that Ronnie is the good guy and we should feel sorry for him.

His real life maiming of other prisoners and prison guards for his own amusement is omitted, of course.

Even the first scene opens with Ronnie beating a guy, but only because the guy's gang attacked them first. Reggie tells him to stop, establishing that same tired inaccuracy that "Ronnie was the crazy one, Reggie was the nice one."

Look up Reggie Kray's real life crimes. He once launched a cowardly ambush on a friend, had a gang of cronies pin the defenceless man down and then fatally stabbed him in the face. Does that sound like a "nicer" version of Ronnie Kray? No, he was just as evil and just as despicable as his brother. So why do movies keep portraying him as "the more human one, the lover"?

Perhaps the most laughable moment in the whole film was the depiction of a fight the Twins had at one of their establishments. Ronnie pins a man's hand to the bar with a knife, which happened in real life. But before he does this, he moodily turns to the camera and monologues a speech from Winston Churchill for five minutes.

Are we expected to find this plausible? That Ronnie Kray, vicious murdering thug, was actually a well-read intellectual philosopher who would quote Churchill in husky tones right before a gang fight? While the opposing gang sat there ignoring this? Absolute garbage that, once again, attempts to make these criminals seem far cooler and smarter than they actually were.

In real life the Krays were psychopathic murderers with shark smiles who managed to influence famous people with their false charm and wads of cash. That's how they should be portrayed. Not as renegade sexy maverick cool nice guys who weren't that bad, really.

Inaccurate portrayal of the characters plus poor production value gives this lemon a big fat 2/10 from me.

The Kramps

[dcarsonhagy · 2/10 · 1 May 2016]

"The Rise of the Krays" is another film to be released this year concerning the infamous twins, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, who "ruled" the underbelly of London in the 60s. This version is the worst of the three films (to date) made about these people.

Kevin Leslie plays Reggie, the nicer one of the twins. However, Leslie's portrayal is so milquetoast he never appeared threatening, scary, or ruthless. In fact, his characterization was pretty blah. On the other hand, Simon Cotton played Ronnie Kray, who was known for his brutality and sadism. Cotton so over-played this role, it became laughable. The director had him do everything but stomp the heads off puppies. Director Zackary Adler desperately needed to shore up on his history of these two. Both were known for their homosexual proclivities--Ronnie more so than Reggie--but this was never even talked about. The throat cutting done in this movie by Reggie Kray was not done in real life by him, but someone else.

Rated "R" for violence and brief nudity, you need to stay away from this version.

"Waste of my time, a bloody waste of my time" ron kray/tom hardy

[andymaranam · 2/10 · 15 February 2019]

If you want a b movie pantomime about a few simple dialogues from their lives this is the film for you. If not, dont bother its a couple of odd ball twins!? That could not look less alike? Their both skinny? and just all wrong! from then on the film is ruined an embarrassment, dickys character is about the only one that pulled it off so kudos to him and a few little good scenes from an offcast ronnie is about all you'll get..watch legend is my advice and if bored one day give this a shout.. 2 stars as they got the hair right.