This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

In 2006 a little film called Kidulthood was released in Britain with a lot of media controversy with it bleak look at inner city life for teenagers. I personally didn't rate the film but people really love it, helped the careers of Noel Clarke and Jamie Winstone. Two years later Noel Clarke has gone back to his creation in an unpredicted sequel.Sam (Noel Clarke) is released from prison after a 6 year sentence for murder of Trife at the end of Kidulthood. Straight away he visits Trife's grave and is attacked by a man, claiming that people want Sam dead. Sam is thrown straight into his mission to find and stop the people hunting him before they hurt him and his loved ones. He starts by appoarching people he went to school with, including Claire (Madeleine Fairley), his ex-girlfriend, one of Trife's old friends Moony (Femi Oyeniran), now a uni student, Lexi (Scarlett Alice Johnson), Becky's cousin and Alisa (Red Madrell), Trife's ex-girlfriend. One of Trife's friends, Jay (Adam Deacon) has become a drug dealing, and a low level gangster. He had a particular grudge against Sam. So does Trife's uncle who is a leading gangster in West London and the Jamaican community. Sam has to fight off a number of attempted hits in the space of a day on his first day out of prison.Adulthood can easily be put in the sections of unexpected sequel and unnecessary sequel. Adulthood is a better film then Kidulthood, but it doesn't mean it's a good film. Plus Kidulthood did at least have a good first 10 minutes. My problems with Kidulthood were that it had a very negative portrayal of British youth, and is very unrealistic. Adulthood has a similar problem, that it's very unrealistic that all that happens in the film happens in one day and there are moments that are so stereotypical with it's portrayal of a Middle class man and his girlfriend, and of students that it's unbelievable. I thought the middle class bloke was too stupid and a bit insulting. There are other moments that were also unrealistic, like when Claire attempted to shout, with people looking at her and Sam and did nothing.Adulthood does improve in other areas. The acting is better, even with cast members from the previous film. Sam also is a more realistic character, and even likable character, despite what he did. I thought he was the most pathetic 'hard man' in the previous film. Noel Clarke is a pretty good actor. Noel Clarke also moves into the director's chair, and he is an improvement to Menhaj Huda. Noel Clarke has a better visual style, with some good shots and editing tricks. He get better performers out of his actors, and avoids the mistakes Huda made with the pacing of the film. I however did not like some of the slow motion and still tricks that he used, and he did use a bit too much shaky cam for my liking. Clarke has potential as a director, but his weakness is his writing. He needs to make his characters, even minor characters, and his premise more realistic.** out of *****

I wasn't all that taken by Kidulthood when I watched it a few years back but it was solid enough and professionally made so I thought I'd follow it with the sequel. Set six years after the original film, we join the majority of the original cast on the day that Sam comes out of prison after doing his time for the killing of Trife. Some of those involved have moved on, some are still in the same situation they were then while others have nothing but that night on their minds and are seeking revenge on Sam for what he did – either by their own hands or by any one of countless up and coming boys looking to have a name made for them.In picking this plot in particular the film sets out its stall very much to be about these events rather than the characters – again this is the same as the first film, which didn't do a great job in creating people so much as it did in creating a reasonably good narrative flow. For many this will be enough and the film does have enough of a "world" to it that it is easy to watch it. The problem comes when you want to be convinced by it, because the story isn't really strong enough (or logical enough) to really engage. It is not that it doesn't have stuff going in in sufficient quantities (it does) it is just that they offer nothing beyond this. Don't get me wrong, I found it easy to watch and get into but it felt like little had been done on the actual characters themselves. Physically it has been worked out where they are and attitude-wise they all have a broad sketch to them but this doesn't get translated well into words in the actors' mouths and as a result the film does feel superficial. The additional downside to this is that, although the film doesn't glamorise these lives, by not being more honest and complex it does feel like there is a certain amount of validation within it.Clarke has done pretty well as writer/director/star though and he has produced a solid film where others may have only made a mess. OK it is not perfect but it is a good stab. His Sam sums up the strengths and weakness – he is supposed to be tired of violence but yet doesn't show that in his actions while any hurt in him is shown in simple ways. He holds the attention well but not below the surface. The supporting cast do pretty well but all have the same "lack of complexity" issue to deal with in their performances. Johnson, Deacon, Drew and others are all pretty good while Madrell returns for a few scenes and continues to be cute.Overall Adulthood is a good companion piece to Kidulthood because they both carry the same strengths and weaknesses. The setting and events engage on the surface and have a good pace to them but the lack of anything decent below this is a problem that affects how much one gets into it but also how well the cast can do with their thinly developed characters. Worth seeing even if it could have been better.

Good Film. I have just watched both films 'Kidulthood and Adulthood',and enjoyed them both,but preferred the sequel. One of the reasons I liked it, is unlike a lot of gangster genre films, albeit young thuggish gangsters,Noel put an emphasis on the fact that what can stir him from the "I've done my time,now leave me alone" to criminal action, is that he fears for his family,not himself. This is not usually written into this genre of criminal themed films.I agree that the 'blud' lines were a bit overused, but i am being picky to say that it bothered me too much during the watching of the film. overall... thoroughly enjoyed it.

Having loved the first one, I wasn't sure if this one would meet the mark of Kidulthood but I have to say it did. I wouldn't say it is better than the first but it is still really good. It was good to see they had a lot of new faces in the cast who played their parts well. I thought Scarlett Johnson who played Lexxi was brilliant. She played her role really well and was very convincing. Was very weird seeing her face again since the last time I saw her was in Eastenders and I thought she was good in that.The groups of youths were good apart from Dabs played by Plan B. I didn't think he was a very good choice for his character. I know he was a part of the soundtrack but he just wasn't very good at acting. Sams brother was very good and I was very impressed with his acting. Adam Deacon who plays Jay and Femi Oyeniran who plays Moony gave great performances as well. Especially Adam who shows his acting abilities at the end scene.Neol Clarke does a excellent job acting, directing and writing. I can't believe he done all of that. For first time directing he does really well and yet again he does a great job at writing. The story over all was really good. Makes you see how much Sam had change and how he wants to get on with life and how he portrayed the different life's of Jay and Moony. He writes some brilliant scenes like the scenes where Sam meets his Mum, where he meets Alisha and her daughter and where he speaks to his brother. Really well written.And like the first film it had a great soundtrack thanks to Ashley Thomas aka Bashy. He chose some great songs and artists for the soundtrack. They had some great songs like Kidulthood to Adulthood, Who R U, F Ur X and many more. I really wanted them to use the MySpace winner song by Dot Rotten because it was very good and would of gone well with the film. The cinematography was really good as well just like the first and i really like the way they did the split screens. Thought that it was really clever.If you have seen the first, you really must see this. Although I think it has it's down falls like the first, it is still worth watching and it will leave you shocked by the end. A very Enjoyable film but you must see the first to see this one.