All Rise...

Judge Joel Pearce prays these Hooligans aren't thinking trilogy.

The Charge

Stand your ground.

The Case

There's something almost comedic about the premise for Green Street Hooligans 2. There have been a number of movies about prison gangs, most of them racially motivated. It's a serious problem in most prisons, but here it is reduced to a running joke about football hooligans.

Hooliganism is a problem in Britain as well, and while it probably spills over into the prisons occasionally, it can't be as completely ridiculous as shown here.

In it, a sole minor character from the first Hooligans film (which I admit I have not seen) is stuck in prison. Dave (Ross McCall, Autopsy) is joined by Keith (Luke Massy, Jimmy Bones) and Ned (Nicky Holender). When they get into a fight with some (evil) Chelsea fans, they end up in a special prison where the warden encourages football matches. Here they also run into Big Marc Turner (Graham McTavish, Pandemic), who wants to ruin their lives. When an additional 50 prisoners are tossed into the mix, tempers flare.

Green Street Hooligans 2 is a movie about people who say they want peace, but take every opportunity to get into fights. These fights all revolve around football, but there's little real football in the movie. With a few lines shifted here and there, this could be about any kind of prison conflict. More troublesome is the blandness of the rest of the scenes. This is a film full of long conversations about completely unrelated things, seemingly just to fill up the time. Toss in side plots about corrupt prison guards and shady underground deals, and it's almost possible to forget this was supposed to be a movie about football in the first place.

There's really not much more to say. This is opportunistic sequel-making at its worst. In addition, Green Street Hooligans 2 is not just a violent film: it's a film that revels in its violence. Alas, the violence is poorly choreographed, and chooses cheesy blood splats over engaging cinematography. The final fight is set up with a level of ridiculousness that approaches deus ex machina, and will get even the most uncritical viewers rolling their eyes.

The DVD itself betrays the lineage of the film. The transfer is soft for a film this new, never doing anything to distinguish itself. The sound is muddy, the voices sound thin and the music lacks the punch that it intends. There is a short production featurette, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to watch it.

Whether you are drawn to Green Street Hooligans 2 because you like sports movies or prison movies, it is an utter disappointment. Stay far away.

The Verdict

Guilty. The gang is going back to prison, and this time it's for keeps.

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