Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

From my favorite movies..

A Brilliant Conflict

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This review contains spoilers - hard to point out the flaws without a few spoilers!Firstly, I liked the cast and location... and I generally liked what they were attempting with the story. However, there seemed too many points that were either very unlikely or didn't make sense. For example:We're told that Harvey was just an ordinary, everyday guy who Steven Roper randomly chose to plant drugs in his flat - why would the police and courts convict someone of drugs offences (heroin no less) when they have no prior convictions? Wouldn't they look at the evidence as a whole and suspect foul play? Just doesn't seem likely. And why would Steven Roper plant drugs on an innocent person anyway? Wouldn't it be better to plant them on someone who the police already suspect?And if Harvey (and his friends) are just ordinary, everyday guys, why are they suddenly good at pulling off a heist? Being clever and having the guts isn't enough surely.The first time Harvey bumps into Roper in the street he gives him loads of lip and attitude. An ordinary guy who's been in jail for something he hasn't done and he mouths off to the likes of Roper (who was the person who got him sent to jail)? Make yourself noticed for the sake of the plan, maybe. But being tough and cocky? No.When it comes to the robbery, why did Dempsey take time to break in through one door but then also take time to break out through the roof? Surely going back out through the door would have been quicker. Sure, it was so he could fire the arrow from the roof... but why was he doing that anyway? I must have totally missed that part. Some money needed to fired through the air and hit a dart board because...? Did he need to get that money to Charlie quickly? Was that the money Charlie planted in the security room? If so, fine, but running the money over to him would have been almost as quick surely? Especially if he doesn't have to spend time breaking out through the roof. Factor in the possibility that he could have missed with the arrow and left Charlie searching for it. Seems like a flashy idea that is all flash and no benefit.Another point, the money is in a safe... in a basement... a basement with no windows... a basement that is alarmed. But when they put the safe in, they placed it over a drain cover? A cover that covers a drain large enough for someone to fit in? Really? No-one thought that was a bad place to put the safe? And why does a basement have an opening to a storm drain anyway?Finally, a minor point really but when characters in films are trying to be clever but that cleverness doesn't stand up then it sticks out. When DI West notices that the tape recorder is still running and listens to it, Harvey (on the tape) says "You can either run after me and bring me back or you can sit down and listen to this tape". All I could think was, he could pause the tape, run after Harvey, bring him back and THEN listen to the tape. The tape isn't going anywhere.

THE RISE is a would-be British crime thriller set on the grim streets of Leeds. The Northern setting is a good one, allowing for a touch of originality in the locales and some interesting accents, but otherwise it's business as usual for this low budget production. An ex-con decides to pull off one last heist with the aid of his buddies and decides to go up against a crime boss, both to make a fortune and get his own back on the man who sent him to prison in the first place.There's a fair bit to like in this film, not least the naturalistic performances from a trio of young stars. Luke Treadaway (ATTACK THE BLOCK) is the lead and Matthew Lewis (HARRY POTTER) and Iwan Rheon (GAME OF THRONES) his ne'er do well buddies. In addition, we get a world-weary Timothy Spall as a cop whose wraparound story structures the plot, and Neil Maskell (KILL LIST) in his nastiest turn yet as the villain of the piece; both are more than effective.The shooting style is good, the acting grounded, and there are plenty of novel twists and turns in the narrative. A shame, then, that this film isn't as good as it thinks it is and that the whole is a lot weaker than the sum of its parts. The script mistakes expletives for wit, and all of the characters are as cold as can be, which robs the movie of much of its suspense - how can you be immersed in the proceedings when you don't care whether the leads live or die? THE RISE is also a slow burner, which as a filming technique is fine when there's a build-up to something worthwhile, but the actual heist is a disappointment and a huge anticlimax when it comes down to it. This film's okay, but hardly the stuff of greatness that reviews would have you believe...

Certainly reminiscent of Lock Stock, with the neat dialogue, polished even, well acted and directed. I was happy with all the performances, and it is largely a young cast. It's not lighthearted, with some excursions into working class (ie unemployed class) despair and poverty, thus Wasteland I suppose, and it might be this that led to the hiccups in its release, not quite knowing where to pitch it. If that's the reason, well that's just another illustration of the institutional uselessness of the management in the film business (nobody knows nothing), because the movie is self evidently a pearl. Never quite seen anything like it before is a recommendation, not a problem. Some pretty graphic violence (realistic, not overblown, and it injures the victims), lots of swearing. Finally it's a caper, The Sting comes to mind.

A sad case of a fine movie that could've been a great contender at the box office but didn't all that much due to studio or producers pushing back its release time and time again. First, it was called "Wasteland" (great title and as I call the film) than delayed for whatever reasons, later on submitted as "The Rise", perhaps as a way to attract more viewers. Not sure if succeed in that. It will have a decent life in the video market because everybody loves a good thriller and "Wasteland" is one of the most solid and gripping Brit thrillers of the season.The criminal drama (with fun bits of humor) has two fronts: a injured man retells to a detective (Timothy Spall) all the events that led him there in that deposition room. The man in question is Harvey (Luke Treadaway), a criminal recently released from jail after spending six months due to a set up from his boss. Harvey's plan is to gather his mates (Iwan Rheon, Matthew Lewis and Gerard Kearns), rob the local casino commanded by his former boss and move to Netherlands, where they can leave the life of crimes behind and settle down as being coffee shop owners. Not that simple since the other members of the group are more frightened of the robbery's positive outcome (to leave a lousy place they love and move to a place they don't know) than the robbery itself and the chance of facing dangerous types, people who they worked for; and Harvey also trying to get back to the girl he loves and who might not approve his plans.Simple is safe, and "Wasteland" benefits from that. It's a simple plot, apparently complicated with its flashbacks back and forth and many puzzling plot twists, but it's very simple in the core. Lacks in action but it's more involving than anything I can think of; the romance bits are tolerable; the dialogs are good but nothing so grandiose; the humor is excellent, consisting mostly of moments with the group mocking Harvey's time in prison. But we're there for a good drama we can easily relate in a way and the powerful and excellent chemistry between the gang formed by some of the finest and young UK stars, people who truly deserve credit even if you don't know their names.My theory on why this was overlooked and once again has to do with the delays and title change: by the time the movie was being made, they had a relatively unknown actor who in between early screenings and the whole change of market, suddenly got a little more famous with heavy repercussion on a play he got great reviews and several awards, and that was Luke Treadaway. The first trailer was a indicative that the focus was on the group, when in fact the focus is on Harvey. I don't think the producers were wrong in "selling" the actor, a reliable performer by the way, but they got wrong in postponing it several times and the new title doesn't sound appealing. "Wasteland" or "The Rise", in the end, it's an exciting, edgy and offers plenty of good moments. 9/10