Adulthood

It takes a wee bit of a mental leap to disassociate writer/director/star Noel Clarke from Mickey from Doctor Who. Once you're past that potential stumbling block, you can begin to appreciate what an accomplished job he does in all three roles here.

Its the directing thats the new string to his bow (he was the writer for this film's predecessor Kidulthood) and is perhaps his most impressive. He handles matters with a very assured hand and isn't afraid to try things out, even if there is the odd moment where this falls into the new director's trap of being a bit too showy for the film's good. There's really only one major mis-step in the closing moments of the film.

That said, he also does a good job with the writing and the acting, turning his character Sam, the villain of the first film, into the sympathetic character - just released from prison for the events at the end of kidulthood and trying to put his life back together. The film as a whole moves slightly more into standard London gangster flick territory than the earlier movie had done, but there are some strong supporting performances and a bearable cameo from Danny Dyer.

Overall - 3/5 A solid rather than spectacular effort, but confirms Noel Clarke as a talent to watch over the next few years.