"Kidulthood" was a big and notorious film in my teenage years. I remember watching it for the first time when I was about fifteen. It was raw, edgy, violent and real, and had a pulsating and flashy style accentuated by a brilliant soundtrack. Noel Clarke's performance as Sam Peel aswell as his directing is flawless in "Kidulthood" and in the brilliant sequel "Adulthood". Here, in "Brotherhood", Clarke demonstrates that he is self-aware and reflective. He is not so young anymore, and neither is his character Sam. This awareness is given to us with a wink-and-nudge subtlety, in scenes like at the beginning where Sam compares his pot belly in the gym changing room to the younger men around him, and, even more brilliant, in a scene reminiscent from many a time in the first two films where Sam sprints down London streets to evade either cops or foes, but this time, he runs out of breath and is promptly beaten on the deck. Sam is not the young man he was, and unfortunately, with the third installment, the story and material from the first two films no longer has its fresh appeal. Where the first two films were fresh and original, "Brotherhood" cannot help but fall into the realm of predictability and flashy, Gangster Paradise imagery. The scenes in the mansion with the prostitutes everywhere, money and thugs aplenty, just feel fake and cliche. Clarke puts everything into his performance and is great. Overall, this is a fine conclusion to the series but one has to ask the question, Was "Adulthood" not a better conclusion?
Review of Brotherhood
