ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

FlashCallahan Harvey is sitting in a police interview room facing interrogation, and Detective Inspector West has no doubt in Harvey's part in a foiled robbery, and the attempted murder of local thug Steven Roper. Denying everything, Harvey agrees to tell his version of events, from his initial release from prison, right up to the point of his arrest....Even though the film has good intentions, and for a low budget Indie movie, it looks wonderful, it's basically just ripping off the interrogation from The Usual Suspects, and to rip off such a prolific movie with such rich narrative and characters, you have to have something special up your sleeves..........this really doesn't deliver anything new though.It's not a bad film though by any means, Treadaway is good as the main protagonist, and the superb as always Maskell is unsettling as the antagonist. But other than that, it's just another run of the mill crime drama about someone who's fed up of his life and wants to be somebody, and wouldn't you know it, resorting to crime is the only way.His gang are the usual rag tag team of Ne'er do wells, and if you want to find out what happened to Neville Longbottom when he graduated from Hogwarts, look no further than this.Spall as good as he is, is just there to listen to the story and to be the ears of the subliminal confession, until the tables are turned in the most predictable way imaginable.So it's a watchable movie, about ten minutes too long, but you'll be yearning for Keyser Soze come the end.

SnoosReviews As the credits rolled at the end of this movie I felt a sense of surprise more than anything. Surprised that 'The Rise' was a very good film, exceeding my expectations in every way. A hidden gem almost, a film that I had not heard of until I saw it on Netflix. I am a fan of the genre; the British 'indie' scene is one that I usually enjoy. This movie is marketed as a heist & revenge movie, which is exactly what it is, but it is not your run of the mill heist flick. It is a powerful, gripping & gritty drama with a great solid plot, good characters & superb acting. It starts very well, throwing you into the story, the lead character is being interviewed by a detective and he begins to tell the story, showing the viewer how he came to be in that situation. The movie does go down a few gears through the middle of the film but then picks up pace and the final 30-40 minutes are fantastic. I won't ruin anything, but the end of the film is very, very enjoyable. The acting is superb; you genuinely feel for the characters and certainly take sides between the good and bad. The 4 main lads are all convincing and portray their own characters well. There is definitely chemistry between the 4 leads and they do have a realistic, relatable relationship.One negative I have is that I thought the relationship/girlfriend storyline was a little unnecessary but it is something we have come to expect in almost every film nowadays. To give credit though, it was kept to a minimum and acted more as a sub plot rather than taking centre stage throughout. I'm not going to say much more as I don't want to give anything away. I'm not sure why this film is so hidden, it never took off and never went mainstream. I know there was a delay in releasing it and it also underwent a title change from 'Wastelands' to 'The Rise'. Overall it is a very impressive film from a novice director/writer with good acting from all the young and upcoming British stars. 8/10

shimself Certainly reminiscent of Lock Stock, with the neat dialogue, polished even, well acted and directed. I was happy with all the performances, and it is largely a young cast. It's not lighthearted, with some excursions into working class (ie unemployed class) despair and poverty, thus Wasteland I suppose, and it might be this that led to the hiccups in its release, not quite knowing where to pitch it. If that's the reason, well that's just another illustration of the institutional uselessness of the management in the film business (nobody knows nothing), because the movie is self evidently a pearl. Never quite seen anything like it before is a recommendation, not a problem. Some pretty graphic violence (realistic, not overblown, and it injures the victims), lots of swearing. Finally it's a caper, The Sting comes to mind.

Rodrigo Amaro A sad case of a fine movie that could've been a great contender at the box office but didn't all that much due to studio or producers pushing back its release time and time again. First, it was called "Wasteland" (great title and as I call the film) than delayed for whatever reasons, later on submitted as "The Rise", perhaps as a way to attract more viewers. Not sure if succeed in that. It will have a decent life in the video market because everybody loves a good thriller and "Wasteland" is one of the most solid and gripping Brit thrillers of the season.The criminal drama (with fun bits of humor) has two fronts: a injured man retells to a detective (Timothy Spall) all the events that led him there in that deposition room. The man in question is Harvey (Luke Treadaway), a criminal recently released from jail after spending six months due to a set up from his boss. Harvey's plan is to gather his mates (Iwan Rheon, Matthew Lewis and Gerard Kearns), rob the local casino commanded by his former boss and move to Netherlands, where they can leave the life of crimes behind and settle down as being coffee shop owners. Not that simple since the other members of the group are more frightened of the robbery's positive outcome (to leave a lousy place they love and move to a place they don't know) than the robbery itself and the chance of facing dangerous types, people who they worked for; and Harvey also trying to get back to the girl he loves and who might not approve his plans.Simple is safe, and "Wasteland" benefits from that. It's a simple plot, apparently complicated with its flashbacks back and forth and many puzzling plot twists, but it's very simple in the core. Lacks in action but it's more involving than anything I can think of; the romance bits are tolerable; the dialogs are good but nothing so grandiose; the humor is excellent, consisting mostly of moments with the group mocking Harvey's time in prison. But we're there for a good drama we can easily relate in a way and the powerful and excellent chemistry between the gang formed by some of the finest and young UK stars, people who truly deserve credit even if you don't know their names.My theory on why this was overlooked and once again has to do with the delays and title change: by the time the movie was being made, they had a relatively unknown actor who in between early screenings and the whole change of market, suddenly got a little more famous with heavy repercussion on a play he got great reviews and several awards, and that was Luke Treadaway. The first trailer was a indicative that the focus was on the group, when in fact the focus is on Harvey. I don't think the producers were wrong in "selling" the actor, a reliable performer by the way, but they got wrong in postponing it several times and the new title doesn't sound appealing. "Wasteland" or "The Rise", in the end, it's an exciting, edgy and offers plenty of good moments. 9/10