I like gangster films. I thought this was an ok gangster film. If you have seen Carlitos Way then you have pretty much seen this film, albeit in a more glossy American setting.

VILLAIN is yet another London-set gangster thriller for ageing hardman Craig Fairbrass, doing his best in a B-movie production that's less than stellar thanks to tired scripting and a general lack of effort all round. Fairbrass once again plays a former criminal trying to go straight but who finds himself tied down both by links to the past and some unsavoury characters in his family's present. The character work is weak but the emphasis is on violent incident, as per usual; sadly, it's nothing we haven't seen done before many times, and many times better.

Eddie Franks (Craig Fairbrass) gets out of prison. He owns a bar that his brother Sean (George Russo) watched over while he was gone. Sean puts all the profits up his nose and got into trouble with the wrong people. Things escalate as Eddie tries to help him out.

This is another tough guy going after the bad guys, except Eddie is human unlike the tough guys in other films. I thought the ending could have been better.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity. stripper