Rating: C-
Dir: James Nunn
Star: Scott Adkins, Kacey Barnfield, Joey Ansah, Jack Doolan
a.k.a. Green Street Hooligans: Underground
Safe to say, this provoked a lot of questions from Chris, as I had to explain to her the history of football hooliganism in England. Yes, it was a big problem at one point. No, it’s not such an issue now. And the decline was definitely not because the hooligans all went off the streets and started an underground fight league instead, as happens here. It’s a ludicrous concept, albeit one which explains the arrival of Adkins, who you just know is going to become the Lionel Messi of said fight league. [I note the preceding film in the franchise was directed by frequent Adkins collaborator, Jesse V. Johnson. Maybe he had a word?]
Adkins plays Danny Harvey, former leader of the Green Street Elite gang, who left the firm and went off to start a gym. But after brother Joey is killed in hooligan action, Danny comes back to the East End to find who’s responsible, despite being warned off by old pal, now a copper, Victor (Ansah). This largely takes second place to whipping the GSE, now a pale shadow of their former selves, back into shape for said five-a-side fight league. He also hooks up with local barmaid Molly (Barnfield), for reasons which never become particularly clear. Cue the training montages and fight sequences as West Ham make their way back up the table, towards a final confrontation with Millwall. Who, wouldn’t you know it, might be involved in Joey’s death.
Remembering the first Green Street film, it’s hard to believe this is the same franchise. There’s little here about football culture. I’m not sure we see any round objects after the first half-hour, if at all. It feels more as if somebody pasted a generic martial arts action script about vengeance for dead relatives and fight rings – not in short supply – onto the East End. It’s definitely a disappointment, considering this was written and directed by the men behind Tower Block, one of the more respected inner-city films of the decade. It’s easy to work out where this is going and, while the identity of Joey’s murderer is something of a shock, the character shows up too late to be meaningful.
The fight sequences are, at least, half-decent, though bear about as much resemblance to reality as those in Crouching Tiger. Taken on that level, this just about passes muster as amusement. If the script is strikingly generic, the performances are functional enough, Adkins probably dropping more F-bombs here, than in the rest of his filmography combined. As foul-mouthed martial arts, this is acceptable, albeit in a way unlikely to stick in your mind. On the other hand, if you’re looking for an actual football hooligan movie, track down The Firm from 1989, a BBC movie starring Gary Oldman, back when he was barely known. It has all the sense of realism blatantly missing here.
This review is part of Project Adkins, covering the movies of Scott Adkins.