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Stars: Craig Fairbrass, Sadie Frost, Tara Fitzgerald
Director: Nick Nevern
Distributor: Signature Entertainment

“I will find out who did this.”

Craig Fairbrass returns as the iconic hardman, Pat Tate, in the latest of the crime franchise, Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance. This latest edition, leading at the forefront of British independent cinema, exists as a more mature and evolved installment, resulting in the best the franchise has to offer.

Opening with a botched armed robbery, Tate’s partner in crime goes his own way, looking to set up his own gig with a young hotshot called Billy the Kid (Ben Wilson). When a deal with Soho kingpin Mo (Anthony Skordi) backfires with bloody consequences, a corpse goes for a ride at the funfair, Billy goes into hiding, and Pat Tate is left to embark on a quest for revenge in the honour of his former footsoldier.

Aided with the help of club owner Sam, played by Britain’s “It’s that guy!” Jamie Foreman, Tate finds himself with a boot full of goodies including a sawn-off shotgun and a historic grenade… In the underworld, Tate is endorsed with Class As provided by Phil Daniels’ David, which is a subplot in itself. Tate’s main focus, his mission of mercy, gives Footsoldier: Vengeance the ability to present itself as an almost gangster road movie. The deeper and darker Tate delves into the Soho underworld, the more magnificent the film becomes in visual form, and the stakes are elevated in terms of action and story development. The further Tate goes, the tougher it gets.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Rise of the Footsoldier film without its excessive violence and plenty of usage of the C word. Present in their respective glories, the violence and C word, however, are exempt from variances of the comic nature and tacky sleaze from the previous films. There’s no sex in this one. Strip clubs and strippers are significantly present, yet there is no spectacle of sleaze. Footsolder: Vengeance signals a growth in the franchise.

As the Rise of the Footsoldier franchise has risen in quality, it parallels the career of its leading man, Craig Fairbrass. The unit of an actor has had great success in the last few years with Avengement, Muscle, and now Footsoldier: Vengeance. Under director Nick Nevern’s vision, fully equipped with James Butler’s cinematography, Fairbrass’ Pat Tate is a complete spectacle as he roams through the sleaze of Soho, and batters the scum. The Essex Terminator is bloody brilliant!

Ultimately, Footsoldier: Vengeance is not only the best of the Pat Tate-driven films, but it is the best that the franchise has to offer. More than just a two-hour-session for the Divorced Dads Club and Stone Island fan clubs, this is a legitimately good crime thriller with hard-hitting action, splattered with gripping violence and hilarious one-liners.