Review of The Krays (1990) by Ola G — 09 Jan 2018

Brought up in London's East End in the 1930s, Ronald (Gary Kemp) and Reginald Kray (Martin Kemp) are raised in the resentful world of their doting mother Violet Kray (Billie Whitelaw), who is hateful of her lot in life and bitter at the control men have in running the world. The twins react to each other almost telepathically and they take out their anger by clogging the nose of their sleeping father (Alfred Lynch), pushing around fellow schoolboys, and even beating each other to pulp at a boxing match. When her mother chastises them for their fight in a fairground boxing ring, the twins veer into the London underworld in the 60s. In their self-contained world of Us-Against-Them, the Krays rapidly rise to the height of power, first taking over the territory of a petty mobster by violent means and then putting together an underworld empire of posh clubs, cars, and fancy suits. But at the height of their fame, the twins begin to break from each other. Reginald falls in love with Frances (Kate Hardie), while Ronald gets involved in a homosexual relationship with one of his underlings. Ronald, in a jealous rage over Frances stealing his brother away from him, becomes even more brutal in his crimes and while the brothers' backs are turned, a group of older mobsters challenge the Krays' authority, invoking a horrible bloodbath that effects not only the two brothers but Frances and Violet as well...

I remember when "The Krays" came out, but I never saw it back then. The film is for sure a so so production, with the problem of being uneven when it comes to the acting, the scene structure, the editing and the violence doesn´t feel that threatening as it should. You don´t root for the main characters, the Kray twins, nor for somebody else in the film. Gary and Martin Kemp are not that convincing as Ronald and Reginald, yes some scenes stand out, but it´s not enough. The film miss the tension and dramatic set up you´d expect from a gangster film. Director Peter Medak has also used a slower pace which is not helping the film. I would recommend you to see "Legend" from 2015 with Tom Hardy as both Ronald and Reginald instead, despite the fact that I haven´t seen it yet myself. Can only be better than "The Krays".