Verdict
Summary
We Still Steal the Old Way has plenty of violence and humour and never loses a sense of fun with the Archer crew as likable as ever and a great villain in Billy Murray.
Plot: An aging criminal outfit carries out a daring robbery, only to be caught in the midst of its heist. Sentenced to hard time in Britain’s toughest prison, the outfit encounters a nemesis from the past who is intent on settling an old score.
Review: I’ve always enjoyed British gangster flicks with people calling each other “cahnts”, etc on a regular basis and We Still Kill the Old Way was one of the more entertaining of recent years.
The sequel entitled We Still Steal the Old Way is arguably even better than the first with the right mixture of comedy and violence.
The Archer gang may have bitten off more than they can chew this time as they are caught during a robbery and imprisoned; when their old adversary Vic Farrow (Billy Murray) shows up their plans go awry and escape is looking more difficult than ever.
Our cool and suave hero Richie Archer (Ian Ogilvy) is never without a plan however, and several twists and turns occur throughout.
The best addition to this series was Murray who is a mainstay of British TV and film but is one of the most memorable villains of the year. Vic is just a total monster who sneers his way through the film vowing revenge on Richie and has no problem killing anyone who gets in his way.
Vas Blackwood practically steals the show though as the psychotic David who stares blankly into space and you never quite know what he’s thinking.
Although it isn’t action-packed in the first half the movie is always tense and the impending threat of violence is never far away. It’s very well paced and the Archer crew is one of the most likable on-screen ensembles for a while.
Richie’s lovably smug but when Vic returns on the scene he sees a genuine threat and his crew are in real danger. They never seem all that concerned as they wise crack their way through the movie and that’s really the major flaw; the tone shifts from comedy one minute to disturbing violence the next and some of the jokes fall a bit flat.
A few too many convenient events happen for our heroes to get out of trouble too but it just adds to the fun.
Aside from that though, it’s an absolute blast with the final half hour having plenty of action as a prison riot breaks out and lots of blood is shed.
It looks like a third movie will be on the horizon so you can count me in as I really enjoy the adventures of the Archer gang.
Overall, We Still Steal the Old Way has plenty of violence and humour and never loses a sense of fun with the Archer crew as likable as ever and a great villain in Billy Murray.
