Beginning with the brutal retelling of the Rettendon murders, the Footsoldier franchise has since spanned nearly two decades, expanding the saga from true crime into fiction. The sixth instalment, Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance is a direct sequel to 2021’s origins prequel and sees actor-turned-filmmaker Nick Nevern return to the director’s chair. Craig Fairbrass reprises his role as Essex hardman Pat Tate who’s out for revenge when one of his loyal footsoldiers is brutally murdered in mysterious circumstances. Crossing paths with Sam (Jamie Foreman), David (Phil Davis), and Fergus (Stephen McCole) in the seedy underbelly of 90s Soho, he will stop at nothing to track down his friend’s killer.
With a back-to-basics narrative, Nevern really finds his footing as a filmmaker with this effort. There are a lot of characters at the disposal of writers Andrew Loveday and Jason Maza, but the piece is neatly constructed into two narrative strands; Tate’s ruthless revenge mission and the struggles of Billy the Kid (Ben Wilson), a troubled youngster caught between living up to his father’s expectations at the local boxing gym and moonlighting as a drag act. This subplot is refreshingly well-handled, and a fresh verve is brought to the savage scenes of extreme violence we’ve come to expect. There are nods in homage to the likes of The Godfather Part II, Snatch, and the work of Nicolas Winding Refn, but through the enjoyably profanity-laden script, the film stays faithful to the gritty roots of the series.
Fairbrass has branched out into more artsy fare in recent years and even appears in Netflix’s new fantasy show One Piece, but you can tell from this formidable performance that he revels in being back in his comfort zone as Pat Tate. His sheer presence drives the plot forward, mixing with a stacked cast of old and new faces. Jamie Foreman, a veteran of the genre, returns after appearing in 2017’s spin-off and Sadie Frost and Phil Davis are introduced in a small but mighty turns. Meanwhile, Ben Wilson and rapper ArrDee make impressive big screen debuts.
Fans of the franchise will appreciate the signature style of this outing with Craig Fairbrass in brilliantly bone-crunching form, but as well as sandwiching itself in between two previous chapters, this works as a standalone revenge flick. After his iffy origins story, Nick Nevern has risen as a director, and this is the strongest Footsoldier film in years.
Cinema Perspective 