A Disappointing Continuation

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This a film that starts out really strong then slowly piles on a bit too many plot contrivances. Visually it's excellent. The opening sequence is wonderful for wordlessly setting up the story. And honestly, that's where this movie starts to have problems. When the characters start talking and you find out their backstories, it gets a bit convenient when things start to go wrong.The performances range from good to great with Gemma Arterton being better than previous work I've seen her in.Overall it's fairly enjoyable on visual level but plot gets a bit on the goofy/implausible side by the end.

It's a kind of tour de force for a crime thriller. Two men who are lovers, the young Martin Compston and the dominant older Eddie Marsan, kidnap the young woman who is the daughter of some filthy rich magnate and demand a quick ransom while they hold her captive -- shackled, hooded, and gagged with one of those BSM red balls -- in a shabby room.Those are the only three characters, and there are only two sets.It doesn't sound promising, does it? The girl, probably a virgin, screaming for help as the two brutes ravage her; the torment of the parents; the determination of the police; the recorded phone calls about the ransom; the argument about whether she should be left behind as a witness; bath tubs of gore.But no. The writers have squeezed every ounce of tension out of the story without abandoning those sparse assets. It answers interesting questions too. Suppose the bound, gagged, and hooded victim needs to use the toilet. One of the men brings her a bucket, but she signals frantically with her fingers -- number two. Can she "go" with some stranger watching her? Can't the stranger at least turn around? And when he does so, can't she whack him over the head with the empty bucket and grab his pistol? The answer is yes.Now the victim, Gemma Arterton, has the upper hand, but the second kidnapper may show up at any moment and -- well, what's a girl to do? Then, on top of that, the narrative gets more complicated, too complicated to explain. There are double crosses upon double crosses, so many that I forgot who was aligned with whom in the later intrigues.The script is fine for its genre, not poetic but effective. And the performances are of professional caliber. Gemma Arterton is attractive without being stunningly beautiful or so young as to invite the cheap sympathy we feel when a child is endangered. And she's no virgin either. She's wily as hell.In some ways the most sympathetic character is boyish Compston because he's the most naive. Everyone takes advantage of him despite (or because of) the fact that he's the only character who seems truly capable of love, even with reservations.The most impressive actor is Marsan. He's the authoritarian Loeb who orders Compston's Leopold around. And Marsan's appearance is striking. His forehead is slanted back and his features protrude at odd angles from his skull. He looks like he's wearing a fire plug on his shoulders.All of them prove themselves capable murder and, in the end, they've all demonstrated their capacity for taking the money and running away with it.It's a little like "Dial M For Murder," but more violent and less witty. None of the villains are nearly as suave and good-natured as Ray Milland. And the music here practically spells out "gravitas." There's not a smile in a cartload but it's precisely done.

This British thriller film is about Alice Creed who is kidnapped for ransom by two blokes( Vic and Danny), they take her to a flat with soundproof walls and tie her to a bed while they wait for the money from her father. The film is straight to the point.The film gives off a very tense atmosphere in the first 45 minutes or so as we see Vic and Danny overlooking Alice. Some of the scenes are uncomfortable to watch but of course that adds to the tension. Gemma Arterton gives a fantastic performance.I really liked the way this film was going but it took a turn for the worse just over half way through. There ended up being too many twists and turns and in the end it became too far fetched. It was very gripping when they kept it simple, just the 3 of them in the room. Silly decisions were made and all sorts of relationships were discussed and it just became unbelievable. It was too complex when it really didn't need to be.Overall it is a good watch but I feel it had potential to be an excellent film had they kept it simple.7/10.

Alice Creed dragged by two masked men in a van, then placed in a room with padded walls and tied to a bed with handcuffs. The kidnappers are after a big ransom, which they expect from her father. But things do not go quite as planned, and soon the victim finds that one of the two criminals is not unknown. It starts a big confusion with an uncertain outcome.Casually, the story takes us through simple but devilishly effective twists to heights of suspense, downplaying the role of each of the three protagonists, in turn changing role. The terms "victim", "hangman" and "accomplice" here are undermined, leaving the audience stunned by the last surprise. Always remaining credible, despite a story about the razor's edge, it almost closed (the action is limited to a room, a kitchen, a shed and wood), owes much to the quality of the interpretation of the three actors.Some scenes really stand on their toes and the director even manages to make the audience laugh, despite a rather dramatic base.The psychology of the characters is fairly extensive, leaving us in the most total about the real intentions of each question. The interpretation of these is rather successful, despite a few details that it's hard to believe. But the director and maybe wanted to highlight the strangeness of the atmosphere of the film: an oppressive atmosphere, in perfect agreement with the narrow apartment where the two men have taken up residence. The film also plays a lot of silence, further increasing the pressure.However, it is too much pressure we can criticize the film. The story seems to get bogged down, and because of the pace is a bit too slow, you wonder if the director really knows where he is going ... The atmosphere may sometimes literally crush the viewer. And even if this is deliberate on the part of Blakeson, we left with the impression that he may have wanted to make a little too ... Result: a few wrong notes, but an effective thriller throughout.7.3/10