The Rise (2012) (aka: The Wasteland) Luke Treadaway, Matthew Lewis, Iwan Rheon, Timothy Spall Movie Review

The Rise (2012)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Luke Treadaway in The Rise (2012) (aka: The Wasteland)

Harvey's Four

12 months, that is how long Harvey (Luke Treadaway) had been inside after being stitched up by local dealer Steven Roper (Neil Maskell) but now he is out and back with his buddies Dodd (Matthew Lewis), Charlie (Gerard Kearns) and Dempsey (Iwan Rheon) who are like brothers to him. Whilst Harvey wants to reconnect with his girlfriend Nicola (Vanessa Kirby) he also has something else on his mind... getting even with Roper for destroying his life and his mates are going to help him by destroying Roper's.

"Stick with it boys" was what my old Gym teacher bellowed at us, those who were not naturally athletic who struggled with doing circuits and those are my words of advice when it comes to the slow start to "The Rise" which also goes by the name "The Wasteland". I say "Stick with it" as the opening scenes are a bit mundane as we see Harvey reunited with his mates, go drinking and then waking up in his bird's bed as she heads off to work. It is all a bit too typical and not interesting despite being mixed in with scenes of a beaten up Harvey having not been out for long and being interrogated by D I West (Timothy Spall).

Matthew Lewis in The Rise (2012) (aka: The Wasteland)

But then after this set up it suddenly starts to evolve in to a bit of a Guy Richie movie with snappy scenes which explains things with Harvey telling D I West all about Roper and his drug business which is how he got stitched up and doing time. It is a good job to as suddenly "The Rise" springs in to life with snappy banter and some energy. This all then builds up to a touch of the "Ocean's 11" as these friends come up with a plan to get even with Roper by robbing the safe in the social cub.

The thing about "The Rise" is that whilst it is nicely put together, features a cast who have their appeal and who do a nice job the final product ends up all too familiar. Basically it is all too reminiscent to other movies and it feels like writer/ director Rowan Athale whilst writing and making this he was too influenced by other popular movies to really stand out with something not done before.

What this all boils down to is that "The Rise" is entertaining and is well acted with a well chosen cast. But all the elements to it are familiar and so whilst watchable it is not overly memorable, failing to stand out from the crowd.


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