Shank

Stars: Kedar Williams-Stirling, Ashley 'Bashy' Thomas, Jerome Holder, Luke de Woolfson, Michael Socha, Robbie Gee, Kaya Scodelario, Rheanne Murray, Jan Uddin, Jennie Jacques, Colin Salmon

Director: Mo Ali

Gang warfare in east London, 2015. The teenage characters here have no conventional Christian names, but are called Whisper, Rager, Beanz, Tugz etc. Having established that all human degradation is to be found in the rundown area where the action takes place, the plot kicks in; and, though set in the near future, it's all terribly familiar.

When his crew is gazumped at a security heist by Tugz's gang, 14-year-old Junior (Williams-Stirling), nursing a knife wound in his hand, watches helplessly while his brother Rager is stabbed in the back by the evil Tugz (Holder). Gathering the remaining members of the gang together, Junior sets out on a mission of revenge, though he needs the help of local bosses Beanz (Gee) and Whisper (de Woolfson) before he can confron Tugz again.

Drumming rap music forms the background to the mayhem, flashy titles introduce characters and action, the street-level dialogue sounds authentic (lots of 'blood's and 'innit's) and 'colourful' miscreants abound, including a tough guy who sells Kentucky Fried Pigeon (we see his crony catching them).

Those familiar with the scene will dig this the most: many over-30s will find it an agony to sit through. There are far too many 'travelling along' shots, animated interludes add little, and the whole thing is shot in an eye-hurting colour process that seems to favour turquoise.

David Quinlan

UK 2010. UK Distributor: Revolver. Eastman Colour .
89 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 1, Swearing 3.

Review date: 23 Mar 2010