Bonded by Blood (2010)

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I guess the British film industry will never get tired of the Essex Boys affair, or I would say killing, that occurred in 1995, a sort of mini Saint Valentine massacre made in UK. I have never been informed of this killing, except through those movies never released in France. But I am sure that's at least the sixth film speaking of this affair. I am sure they will make films about it fifty years from now. There were not so many movies about the Great Train Robbery which took place in August 1963. I like crime or gangster flicks from over the Channel, although they seem all alike. You have two kinds, the SNATCH kind and the RISE OF THE FOOT SOLDIER one. I have seen dozens of those features, and I prefer the second genre, more brutal and realistic with also less humor. One more thing, about the scene where the young hood is killed with a riot gun in the end; when you get killed with this kind of rifle, your body jumps to the rear, it doesn't stand still...Caliber 12 is not 9mm...

"Brutal … even better than Rise of the Footsoldier", said one critic about "Bonded by Blood", no doubt while counting the pound notes inside a vanilla envelope.Lot of critics have shredded „Rise of the Footsoldier", the second film about the infamous Rettendon Range Rover killings: too brutal, too many drugs, too much swearing and a rather inconsistent storyline. However, friends of violent British gangster / hooligan films have declared "Footsoldier" a cult-movie and wondered why there seemed a need to have the story filmed a third time.The main reason why a "Footsoldier"-fan would want to watch "Bonded by Blood" is the return of many actors from the first film: Terry Stone reprises the role of the foul-mouthed Tony Tucker; albeit a somehow polished version, without the ludicrous wig he had to wear in "Footsoldier", replaced with a cheap suit looking like a leftover from "Goodfellas" and a Terry Stone who at all times looked uncomfortable, not sure why he was there in the first place. Neil Maskell, having a minor role as Darren Nicholls in the prior film, plays Craig Rolfe; physically more accurate in "Bounded for Blood", his character pales in comparison to the slimy, malicious Rolfe that Roland Manookian had played.Jack Whomes, in both films the man who fires the first shots into the Range Rover, is played by Dave Legeno, who had a small role as hooligan in "Rise of the Footsoldier". Prior Ben Harper played Whomes as a psychopathic henchman, his final scene giving the viewers chills, but the Whomes of this movie is no more than a robotic hulk with a shotgun. And while we're on the topic of miscasting: whatever gave the producers the impression that Pat Tate was Turkish? A highlight could have been Vincent Regan, whose hawk-like eyes and chiselled features made him one of the more memorable characters in Zack Snyder's "300". Alas, Regan playing the burned out gangster Mickey Steele, is wasted in this role, looking all the while as if he just hadn't slept enough before shooting.If you compare "Rise of the Footsoldier" to a hooligan on steroid-rage, "Bonded by Blood" is more like a backdoor-dealer on tranquilizers: there's plenty of pointless talking, occasional cussing, beatings and shootings, bits of nudity and bits of drug-taking. About midway the viewer stops caring for the one-dimensional characters, waiting for the infamous Range Rover shooting scene, the bloody and very realistic highlight of "Footsoldier". The scene comes, shotguns are emptied (more or less in the off) into the occupants of the Rover and the viewer is left with a distinct sentiment of "so what".In Germany, "Bonded by Blood" has been released under the moniker "Footsoldier 2", hoping to rehash the success of the 2008 film but personally, I hope that the "Footsoldier"-fans won't fall for that promotional gimmick – unlike me, who naturally pulled his wallet when the film hit the shelves.I'll give it a well-meaning three points out of ten but if I had to watch the film again, I'd probably reduce that to two.

I went to see this film with a couple of friends one of which had read all the books. I had seen Essex Boys but not Return of the Foot Soldier and was quite looking forward to this film.I love gangster films and obviously being a bit of an Essex boy and been to the places mentioned in the film in the early nineties was quite looking forward to this film.However I was absolutely disappointed. Although the acting was just about OK but not entirely believable the depiction of 90's Essex is nothing short of atrocious.The night club Raquels was a big night club in basildon essex but in the film it looks like a bar out of Neighbours. The fashions were a cross between 80's and the noughties. At not one point in the film did I feel I was in the 90's. The fashions were all wrong. Blokes were wearing suits or tucked in shirts (this would have no doubt got you a good seeing too in 90's Essex but was considered normal in the film) and no curtains in sight. The women were wearing heavy 80's makeup, tight tops short skirts and platform stilettos...I don't remember that in the 90's it was more cover your self up baggy tops, bobbed hair, bell bottoms and clumpy shoes! Even the scenes on Southend Pier included modern infrastructure that was never around in the 90's. Overall it was just about watchable but whoever was responsible for the depiction of 90's Essex should have been taken away in a 'K' reg Range Rover and shot!

i had already seen the firs two movies based on the essex boys and the range rover murders, 'essex boys' was good but wasn't very truthfull and 'rise of the footsoldier' a brilliant movie and one of my favourites. so i was looking forward to 'bonded by blood' and it didn't disappoint, the cast was brilliant in there role's, the story was accurate, and the movie was also very funny, terry stone and tamer hassan were great together, and the scenes with tamer hassan and Vincent Regan was very tense. the movie looks a lot classier than 'rise of the footsoldier' and 'essex boys' and it's better made, the movie dosen't rely on ultra violence every few minutes unlike 'rise of the footsoldier' although there is still plenty of violence here, instead the movie focuses on the relationship of tamer hassan and Vincent Regan's characters 'pat Tate' and 'mickey Steele', and when they fall out, the movie get's very tense. where as 'rise of the footsoldier' took a very realistic almost documentary approach to the material, 'bonded by blood' plays out more like a thriller, and if you didn't already know the story, you would't really know whitch way this was gonna go, but that aside, the movie sticks to the facts and presents them to you, sure there are some things that are left out of the movie, but 'rise of the footsoldier' already showed them, and why repeat the same thing over again. this is the most cinematic of the three essex boys movie's and probably has the best cast, it's a very nasty and violent story, and if your familiar with it, then you are gonna have an idea of what your expecting. the movie is quite violent, but toned down from 'rise of the footsoldier', more violent than 'essex boys though, and anybody expecting the very realistic and accurate range rover murders like in 'rise of the footsoldier' will be very disappointed, the murder does happen here, but it's quick, short and to the point, and the movie has a good ending that shows that this whole saga ruined many lifes. fans of British gangster movies should definitely check it out, and ignore all the negative feedback from people that wanted an over blown violent romp like 'rise of the footsoldier', and remember that is one of my favourite films, but anybody wanting a solid British gangster movie, should definitely check this out. there are three other movies based on the essex boys and the range rover murders namely 2000's essex boys, 2007's rise of the footsoldier, and 2013's the fall of the essex boys