Review of Bonded by Blood (2010) by Rich A — 27 Jan 2013

Same old same old. Don't understand why it was necessary as its a carbon copy of both 'Essex Boys' and 'Rise of the Footsoldier'. How many times do slightly different versions of the Rettendon murders story need to be told? 'Rise of the Footsoldier' was a good film with a good cast, better than 'Essex Boys' in my opinion.

But a third version is pointless. Tammer Hassan is an awful actor and I try to steer clear of anything that he stars in. I loved him in 'Football Factory' and 'The Business' but all the straight to dvd stuff since I ignore.

Accept in this case. For whatever reason I took notice of this film and with no expectations thought for the sake of an hour and a half it might be worth a watch. How wrong I was. The supporting cast is weak, doesn't hit the standards of the supporting casts in the two previous versions of this story.

However I did enjoy Neil Maskell's performance. He was very inconsistent though, at times his input was pointless, but then there where glimmers where he showed he had more acting talent than the wrest of the cast put together.

I enjoyed him in 'Football Factory' and he is the only highlight of this film. Since then im pleased he got his break in 'Kill List' which I thoroughly enjoyed. Actors like 'Tammer Hassan' only appear in these kinds of films and over time it becomes boring.

Frank Harper is a great example of an actor who always seems to play the hard man, but then mixes it up occasionally with a performance like in 'Bend it like Beckham'. Its a breath of fresh air to see a predictable actor do something different.

Hopefully this will be the case with Neil Maskell as I feel he has the potential to be a very good actor. Overall this is a poor film and a waste of 90 minutes of my life I wont get back. Just hope nobody else decides to make a forth film about the Rettendon murders.