Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

VividSimon Simply Perfect

GazerRise Fantastic!

Iseerphia All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning From the makers of Kidulthood, proclaims this latest, modest budget slice of 'urban' life, and indeed, we're on very similar ground. Only set in the future, a very depressing, dangerous future that looks only too likely to be a reality, where knife crime and gangs have taken over a decaying London and it's a fight for survival that nothing short of a BNP government might have prevented.Shank does little to go in any direction other than any other film aimed at the 'yout'' culture of today goes, throwing all the common street lingo, slang and style in the face of it's audience, even the title a hideous term for stabbing somebody. It tries to throw in what it thinks is the odd little inventive touch here and there, but it is little more than another sad reflection of where our young people are today and where they're going. **

i-nemesis I watched this movie with Kidulthood, Adulthood in mind and its not quite on par with noel Clark's productions. I can honestly say i was a little disappointed with some of the characters mainly Kicks (adam deacon), i really enjoyed his performances in kidulthood, Adulthood. However he doesn't shine in this movie like he did in his previous performances. This isn't down to bad acting it was down to screen time he just seemed to be in the background. however Craze (Michael Socha) performance did make up for this in my eyes "bloody northern monkey". The cgi in the movie was poor to say the least, You could see what he was trying to do but the budget must of been way off what he wanted & looked more like something from the 80's. Obviously the writer didn't want to go the "usual" London gangster flick route. Instead it is set in the future (2015) Which for me didn't quite work. I would of much preferred a more real to life story. Be warned if you don't/cant understand London lingo then this will leave you trying to understand what is being said and will just sound like gobble de gook. Even with this in mind i am still going to give this movie a 6/10 just because i enjoy inner city gang films. So to sum up the casting & performances were good including the "New boy." The story was mediocre. the OST was good. My top 10 Gangster/London Flicks 1.Rise of The Footsoldier, 2.Kidulthood, 3.Bullet Boy, 4.Adulthood, 5.Rock 'n' Rolla, 6.Harry Brown, 7.Sugarhouse, 8.Shank, 9.Essex Boys, 10.CassNext review will be Bonded by Blood.Thx for reading, peace out.

matrix_vs_badboys This film isn't for everyone. From the reviews this film has received on here I'd say that this film isn't really made for IMDb users specifically. The older generation that sees a good movie as a narrative with a quiet and linear plot line with some obvious sociological or spiritual statements would never understand this movie. I have been a film enthusiast for a long time. I've analysed a lot of movies but something like this I've never seen executed so well.Anyone that's spent any time of their lives holding angst will have music to reflect and indulge in. For different forms of people from older generations different forms of rock did the trick. Nowadays we have something different that speaks to the current teen generation (specifically that of England). That would be grime and Dubstep (wiki it). It's filthy, it's grimy, it's hard hitting and, for some reason, it seems to capture the perfect blend of dance, spirit, anger and violence that younger generations have grown up with. So what the makers of this film (and of Kidulthood/Adulthood) did is spill this blend on screen and express this in the best possible way possible to them.The film is filled with aesthetics that, after a while, become you. You become all that is tense, angry and grimy.Not that this movie is simply a Grime movie, there is a lot in the movie that people give it little credit for. While people were too busy pushing off this movie because of their natural dislike for anything new, many small things that resemble statements of maturity slipped by.So let me start with a rundown of the film. It's 2015 (not that far away) and London is divided between the have and the have-nots because of social, political and economic reasons (much like District B13). The film's protagonist happens to be a quiet boy called Junior who, with his money-chasing brotherhood, ends up running into senseless violence and has to watch his big brother die trying to protect him. This, of course, leads to a near death-wish lust for vengeance. So he sets off to find the thug that killed him in order to make up for his belittlement. His brotherhood isn't really happy with the idea (excluding Craze) but they go along anyway.Throughout the movie, his older peers-Kickz and Sweetboy, insist on telling him that it's never too late to go back and that absolute violence isn't the answer, same with a few older characters. However, these words do not reach Junior as he's stuck in a state of shock and has misinterpreted his feelings of mourning and insecurity as anger. So he goes through many of the older generations of people for help, who're either drunk or trying too hard to show off a sense of importance. They have very little to say and pitch into his lust for violence. Finally, after long walks back and fourth in the area, he comes to face his brother's killer and ends up giving up the shank for a clean heart.What the director was trying to express through the film was the confusion, anger and insecurity of having to grow up and live in a society brushed away from the eyes of an elite. Not only that but having to endure chaos while keeping a straight face. The movie makes several references to our need for violence by satirising video games. We see a video game sequence where Junior is running away from a helicopter on a bicycle but still get shot down. This is Junior giving narrative to his own anger and protagonising himself as the ultimate fighter but it ends in ruins when he falls down.We also see another sequence where Junior is dreaming of him fighting his brother's killer in animation-mode. This is another statement about violence in cartoons. However, Junior wakes up when the cartoon dream doesn't go his way and only ends up amplifying the horribleness of what really happened to him and his brother. There are more things like this in the movie for viewers to catch.This is the part where I note the drawbacks: -some parts (specifically with Whisper) were unnecessary -The editing in the club scene could've been leaner -Some characters were unnecessary -Junior's actor (Kedar)could've done a better job at being coherent when he talked. (I mean, srsly, how hard could it be to have a movie narration be fathomable?)Other than that Ali did a good job by keeping true to the Audience with the music, plot and actors while also pushing his raw expression with sharp, grainy, washed out photography and nauseatingly shaky cinematography. This movie builds upon Kidulthood and shows us the future of black British Expression. There is nothing to gain or lose with this film. It's simply expression to be felt, heard and seen.I don't expect anyone to understand this film now but in a few years this movie will be held up as a cult classic and a staple in a new emerging genre.

rob-nean OK normally id watch these types of films and within 5 minutes be completely hooked, (however) this was so dull that i would of happily turned off within the first fifteen minutes of viewing..... most of the acting was OK and especially by Adam Deacon (kickz) who i think is a great actor. Another actor who caught my eye was Bashy. (Rager) he was brilliant and will be looking out for in the future.. the story could of been so much better there was a few good ideas adding gaming style death o meter to the dog fight scene was classic.. i can only give this film four out of ten at the maximum any more id be lying and wouldn't be fair to anyone going to pay at the cinema. (this is my personal view only but be warned)