Pusher II (2004)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The first must-see film of the year.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I put this DVD in my queue because the director, Nicolas Refn, went on to direct "Drive", which made many critics best lists for 2011. So I was curious what his appeal was from his earlier films. Filmed in Denmark, this is definitely a low budget film that seems to be more of an independent effort than a studio film. Fans of "Drive" may see this as a chance to witness the director's distinct style. You will notice the use of heavy colour and throbbing Euro-dance synthesiser music to set the tone for moments of tense danger as our main character walks into a room. Tonny, the main character, is almost a cartoon character in the way he makes bumbling mistakes all the time. It is a great achievement by actor Mads Mikkelson to portray him as very human and emotionally frail. Otherwise this film would fail to earn any sympathy or interest. Shot in hand-held documentary style, this small film follows shady characters in their garage to their small homes and the whore-house. The dialogue at times feels improvised, and less happens over the course of the film than one would expect. On the other hand, careful attentions was paid to make sure the story didn't fall into an easy trap of cliché crime drama. As we try to figure out the intentions of Tonny, he does something unexpected. It helped create a character arc eventually. My guess is the the first film of this trilogy provides necessary character background that is missing in this film. However, as a standalone film, one can appreciate what other film producers saw in this director and brought him on board to something bigger. Refn was able to successfully translate his unique vision with an actual budget in "Drive".It might be hard to recommend this film to a non-European audience that might not be used to such low budget productions. But if you compared it to some independent efforts that make their way into local film festivals, you can find some appreciation in the personal touches that help make the film stand out. In this case you have a charismatic lead actor, a director's appealing vision, and a story that defies expectations.

It is hard to make a movie that hits the same atmosphere, and also the same punch and credibility, which was the case with Nicolas Winding Refn's debut movie Pusher. In Pusher II Refn has got his hands on some of the right stuff, the atmosphere is definitely there, also the credibility to some extent. But concerning the punch, Refn has totally missed, which is something the movie suffers from. The story takes place a couple of years after the first Pusher, where we this time aren't following the energetic and macho frank, but the subdues and (in his opinion) slick Tonny. He's just been released after 13 months in prison, where he leaves with a minor debt, to another prison inmate. Without having any idea of how to get the money, he seeks out his dad, Smeden (portrayed by a well performing Leif Sylvester Pedersen), to get a job. Smeden is a respected man in Copenhagen's criminal underworld, who is known for selling stolen cars. Smeden doesn't seem very thrilled to see Tonny, but in the end he is his son, so he agrees to give him a job. But Tonny has got more problems than first assumed, when he gets a visit from a former prostitute, who claims that he is the father to her, a few months old son. Therefore she demands that he takes a paternity test, so see if he actually is the father. And if that is the case, then demand maintenance of him. Tonny gets furthermore mixed himself up in some problems with some unknown kingpins, because of his friend Kusse-Kurt, who (like Tonny) isn't very clever. This forms the foreground history for Pusher II, but the movie isn't even as successful as its predecessor.The main character Tonny, is as mentioned a very subdues person, which is seen in peoples perception of him. Everyone besides his friends treats him very poorly, and considers him a loser. He pretends to not care about this, but deep down it hurts his self-esteem. Because of this, he has a very strong necessitate to show himself off, and has besides of that a strong need for recognition. This is the reason, why he does almost everything people tell him to, and puts up with people calling him various terms of abuse almost constantly. He seems most of all like a dog, who through its whole life has been beaten, and now just obeys orders, to get higher up in the hierarchy. This does that the movie is very "fluctuating", compared to Pusher, where there was a goal, and a manipulating and controlling person steered towards it. Because of this, Pusher II is not very good as a whole. The small loose ends in the story, is in the end supposed to appear as one big problem, which doesn't work after the intention. The movie was made because Refn had money problems, which can be seen. Many of the key things in the story, feels a bit like makeshift solutions, which were put together as fast as possible. I'm most of all referring to Tonny's friend Kurt's problem with the unknown kingpins, which doesn't work in any way after the intention. But in spite of the movies weaknesses, it still has its positive elements. The characters aren't something to cheer for, but concerning Tonny's life, you as a viewer really get the impression of how he is feeling. One of the last scenes, where he is sitting in an apartment and gets smeared, is very convincing. You can feel exactly how he feels, which is due to Mads Mikkelsen's performance. He (in spite of the few work conditions) really puts his stamp on this movie. After a few comical parts in movies like Blinkende Lygter (Flickering Lights) and De Grønne Slagtere (The Green Butchers), he again proves what a brilliant character-actor he is. You really get under the skin of Tonny, and experience how life is for a criminal, who can't find his place in the world. As a sequel to Pusher, the movie isn't worth a lot. But as a single movie, that shows a portrait of the criminal environment, it still detaches itself. The realism that its predecessor had is still very much there, something that doesn't happen a lot in a world, where Hollywood is spitting one unrealistic action film out after the other. So thumbs up to Refn and the actors for a fine drama in the criminal world, and let's hope that Refn continues to make movies as good as this or even better in the future.

Dedicated to Hubert Selby Jr., Pusher II moves in the familiar territory of the New York writer, night scenes populated by strippers, drug addicts and hopeless petty criminals. Unlike Last Stop Brooklyn, and the first movie in the trilogy, Pusher ends on a high, pun not intended, with a glimmer of hope to illuminate the Scandinavian night that most of this movie seems to embrace.Eight years have gone by since Frank from Pusher broke Tonny's head with a baseball bat. Frank is now gone, and Tonny, the eternal screwup, seeks criminal success working for the big boss himself: his father. What he finds of course is deceit, empty violence, cocaine-fueled failures of all kinds.Even when seeking redemption in a loveless world Nicolas Winding Refn's characters are still unable to talk except that with fists or knives, unable to act or to stop acting if not by chemically quelling one's fears. This movie is less violence, but perhaps even scarier than Pusher II. It is because of the absolute absence of human empathy or maybe just because is a little bit of Tonny in all of us.

Pusher was a great movie no doubt so clearly i expected A lot from this one but i'm sorry to say that it does NOT and i repeat NOT at all reach the heights of the first one.it's generally boring and not so tuff and scary as the first one cause i can remember in some scenes from Pusher i was really frightened but not at all in this one.Mads Mikkelsen does a good job definitely but i really missed Kim Bodnia cause his role was far more intense and now i've heard that his not in pusher 3 neither is Mads! i hope pusher 3 goes back to the original environment from the first one and i'm glad to see that Zlatko Buric is back in this one cause he has only a very small role in pusher 2 and that sucks!!