Pusher II (2004)

Overview: Tonny is released from prison - again. This time he has his mind set on changing his broken down life but that is easier said than done.

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Leif Sylvester, Kurt Nielsen, Anne Sørensen, Øyvind Hagen-Traberg

Original Language: DA

Original Title: Pusher II

Budget: N/A

Revenue: N/A

MPAA Rating: PG

Keywords: prison, copenhagen, denmark, parent child relationship, debt, drugs, nordic noir, hard

r96sk (September 24, 2023)

'Pusher II' improves upon its predecessor, if only by a little. I found this 2004 flick to be comparatively more pleasant to watch, not in terms of a lack of violence or anything (there's plenty!) but more so just as a film in general - it feels more well made and a bit more progressive story-wise. It's still nothing perfect or anything that enthralled me at all, but I definitely class it highly (albeit minorly) than 'Pusher'. I would've preferred a sequel that followed up with Kim Bodnia's Frank, at least character-wise anyway as actor-wise Mads Mikkelsen is the one I'd prefer to watch instead. Mikkelsen puts in a good performance, 8 years on from his acting debut in the original. Away from Mads, Leif Sylvester Petersen is probably the standout - though all the support cast are pretty much level with each other to be honest. I'm interested to see where the third and final flick from this series goes, given Mads Mikkelsen's absence and, from what I gather from the tiniest of look-ups out of pure nosiness, Kim Bodnia's continued disappearance. Viaplay recommended 'Pusher 3' at the end of this film and their promo image features Zlatko Burić, so I know he makes it a hat-trick of appearances at least.