Movie Reviews...

Channel 4 Review of Adulthood:
Noel Clarke stars in, writes and directs the sequel to 2006's Kidulthood. Clarke himself returns as Sam, fresh out of jail after serving six years for murder and now trying to stay out of trouble
When Kidulthood was released in 2006, it caused a minor stir for its dark depiction of teenagers in contemporary Britain. Beginning with the suicide of a girl bullied at school, it showed a society where violence, drug-taking and casual sex were rife amongst the young. As the title suggests, Adulthood has grown up a little bit. The violence, drug-taking and casual sex are still rife - but now the film comes with a conscience.It also comes with a new director, as Clarke - who starred and wrote the original, and does so again here - takes over from Menhaj Huda. At the end of Kidulthood, Clarke's character Sam Peel was being carted off after murdering local rival Trife. In Adulthood Sam graduates from being just one of an ensemble cast, to becoming the key figure. Fresh out of jail, after a six-year stint for his crime, Sam just wants to keep his head down - but those aware of his release have other ideas. Like Kidulthood, the action is set across one eventful day. Sam is now seeking to make amends for his actions. After visiting the grave of the boy he killed, he meets his old girlfriend Claire (Fairley), only to find out she's now seeing another guy (Dyer). He hooks up with Lexi (Johnson), cousin to Becky, who has gone AWOL since the events of the first film. Meanwhile Jay (Deacon) is desperate to avenge the death of his friend, Trife, while Moony (Oyeniran) just wants to get on with his life as a student and forget the events of the past.
http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=167026

Times Review By Ed Potton:
The energetic but strident Adulthood picks up the story of its 2006 predecessor, Kidulthood, six years on, during which time its posse of West London larrikins have graduated from happy-slapping, shoplifting teenagers to drug-dealing, car-jacking twenty somethings.
Except for Sam (Noel Clarke), who was last seen bashing an adversary’s brains out with a baseball bat and has just come to the end of the resulting hellish prison stretch. With friends of the dead boy circling for blood, will he keep his head down or be sucked back into a spiral of villainy?
Clarke is very much the fulcrum of the piece, writing the screenplay, as he did for the first film, and directing. He should stick to the acting — as anyone who saw his turn in Doctor Who will know, he has a compelling stillness and a face capable of suggesting both menace and vulnerability, sometimes simultaneously.
The script and direction are more problematic. The main players spit fiery dialogue that flaunts its street cred. But when Clarke moves away from his testosterone-fuelled comfort zone he often misfires — the female, older and middle-class characters are often painfully flimsy. The constant blitzkrieg of threats, recriminations and beatings also becomes wearing, with moments of reflection very thin on the ground. Life may well be this grim for some young Londoners, but such unrelenting aggro soon becomes meaningless.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article4165968.ece

Guardian Review By Philip French:
Menhaj Huda's 2006 film Kidulthood ended with the arrest of the troubled black Londoner Sam Peel for murder. An ambitious attempt to present all the pressures on black teenagers in a single film, it was a scattergun affair and only adequately performed. The sequel, Adulthood, is set six years later. Better acted, it focuses exclusively on the day of Sam's release from jail, and is written and directed by Noel Clarke, who plays Sam in both films. It's a hard-driving thriller, violent and foul-mouthed, about the stupidity of respect and the hollowness of vengeance. Except for one particularly phoney scene (a black dope dealer humiliating a middle-class white customer), it presents a pretty authentic account of life on the streets and in jail for young blacks. The excellent photography is by Brian Tufano.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/jun/22/film.drama