Pusher II (2004)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Being from Denmark I was introduced to Pusher in a early stage. I have lived in pretty much all of the settings of the trilogy (Vesterbro, Nørrebro, Nordvest, Amager) I feel blessed by this movie by Winding Refn. He just captures some of most raw and realistic environments.The sequel is not as fast moving as the first but nonetheless still a top tier to me. The story of Tonny is so well portrayed, both by using a great cast of non professional actors and by the cinematography it self greatly inspired by the wave of Danish Dogma 95 - yet still very different. Tonny is one of my favorite movie characters. A life full of harshness, being constantly pushed down and on the lowest rank in his surroundings. I am one of the greatest domestic fans of Winding Refn and Mads Mikkelsen - happy to see they are doing so well at the international film scene. Would also recommend "Bleeder", also a great Winding Refn film with all three Pusher- stars of Mads Mikkelsen, Kim Bodnia and Zlatko Buric.

In the second part of the Pusher saga Nicolas Winding Refn zooms in on Tonny, Frank's buddy from the first film. In the last film Frank choose to beat his friend half to death with a baseball bat. Tonny survived with scars and what seems to be brain damage. Tonny has just come out of jail and struggles with debts, a child he unwillingly fathered with a prostitute and earning the love and respect of his father, the ruthless gangster kingpin known as Smeden. If the first film made Tonny look ridiculous, this makes him right out tragic. Tonny is not a truly bad person, he just douse not know better. He's a kid raised by a prostitute mother and neglected by his gangster father. On his back head he has tattooed the word: RESPECT, but through out the movie he is spit on by everybody except his very sympathetic criminal friend Ø and Milo, the drug-lord from the first film. Smeden has a younger son, Valdemar, with another prostitute and wants to raise the child for himself while the prostitute wants to keep her son.In this film, Refn once again shows the audience the hell of the criminal world. These are people who behave tough on the outside but are nothing more than psychopaths or uneducated people trying to make a living. There is nothing cool about this way of life. Tonny visits the brothels instead of trying a relationship, this habit is shown to be a indirect influence of his father who douse the same. His drug use has rendered him impotent. Tonny manages to make a fool out of himself time after another, is tricked by the loathsome pimp Kusse-Kurt(Kurt the C**t) and is denied any kind of credit by Smeden when he does well in a car-robbery. When his father finally gives him the chance to obtain his love Tonny had to commit a crime far worse than anything he's ever done Tonny instead make the right choice. It's the most positive ending of any of the Pusher films. Tonny does the right thing and redeems himself. The movie ends with the image of Tonny's tattoo, which is the one feeling I feel for him at that moment: RESPECT.Mads Mikkelsen is great as Tonny and puts in all the humanity the part needs. Leif Sylvester gives a performance with many layers and sides. Kurt Nielsen is disgusting as the wicked and cowardly pimp and Zlatko Buric steals his one scene. The original music by Peter Peter and his Bleeder Group creeps under the skin.There is a fantastic lighting in the film with rich colors. On the other hand, the film lacks the nerve of Pusher and Pusher 3. It does not have the same energy and loses on it. But it's far from a bad film. A must see for anyone. And don't forget to see the other parts.

Our protagonist, Tonny, is an ex-con and general screwup who just about everyone dislikes, for good reasons. His father, girlfriend, co-workers and most of his associates consider him to be the biggest goober head around, and from his actions you won't think they are far wrong.There is a lot of drug use in the film, but not much dealing, so the title is a bit misleading. However, the movie is good because of the excellent acting and the general zaniness of the plot; you never know what kind of mistake Tonny is going to make next. What's sure is that he will make one, and probably in the next couple of minutes. He's the kind of guy you can like on the screen but would be horrified to find living next door.Mads Mikkelsen as Tonny is awesome; he's about as far from the part of Le Chiffre in Casino Royale as a character could get. At first I had a hard time believing it was the same actor.Watch this when you're in the mood for a Danish gangster film featuring some madcap fun and general foolishness.

I've seen Pusher II during the Thriller and Film Noir Film festival in Cognac. It was a shock at the end. When lights were on, people don't say a word. The last time I was so mute was at the end of "once were warriors". The violence in Pusher II is so realistic, so close, so terrifying for the future of all the characters than we really hope there will be something, even very little, happy at the end to help us to breath. The main character seems to be a bad guy but he's a loser, looking for the love of a father. All his past, aka his friends, family, etc... are lost. i've met the director, he said this a real look on a way of life in his country; but don't think it's just outside : this story can exists everywhere. Some sequences are like nightmare without sleeping. And for the hero, the last hope in his life is a baby, his son, but for what kind of life ? Incredible, powerful, beautiful, PUSHER II mixes all these feelings to be one of the best movie of this year, a movie which marks your spirit like hot steel.