The Marvel Cinematic Universe had gone overboard with its practice of making viewers do their homework before watching a movie or show. I mean, if you wanted to watch Multiverse of Madness, which was a sequel to Doctor Strange, then watching the latter wasn’t enough. You’d have to watch Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, and WandaVision to understand the mechanics of the plot.
Fans used to come to the studio’s defense, but I guess even they got tired of that, and the MCU had to go back to the basics of storytelling. Meanwhile, Netflix isn’t backing down. They made a series called Undercover, which ran for 3 seasons and introduced a character named Ferry Bouman. Then they made a prequel series about that character, titled Ferry: The Series. Then they made a movie that was a prequel to that prequel series, titled Ferry.
Director: Wannes DestoopWriters: Geerard Van de Walle, Tibbe van HoofStars: Frank Lammers, Aiko Beemsterboer, Tobias Kersloot
Wannes Destoop’s Ferry 2, written by Geerard Van de Walle and Tibbe van Hoof, begins with a recap of all the events that have happened in the eponymous character’s life so far. We see his origins in Brabant, where he went after a trio of thugs to avenge Brink’s son, Matthijs. He met the love of his life, Danielle, killed Brink, and then partnered with Danielle’s brother, Lars. He built his empire in the Zonnedauw caravan park and things were going well. But then his sister, Claudia, died, and so did his daughter, Sonja. Ferry’s great-niece, Jezebel, was orphaned by Ferry himself because he was forced to kill her father, Jurgen, as well as her grandfather, John. He also killed Marco, Lars, and Remco. Eventually, Danielle abandoned him. Then, one of his partners, Dennis, ratted him out to the police and Ferry went to jail for almost a decade. In the present day, Ferry is trying to stay out of crime by being part of another caravan community, but Jezebel, along with her boyfriend Jeremy, come to him for help because their business deal with a crazy guy named Lex van Dun has gone bad. Without any real backing, Ferry has to find a way to help his great-niece while atoning for the sin of murdering her father.
The script for Ferry 2 is pretty basic. There's really no element of surprise. Of course, Ferry is going to help the kids. Of course, they're going to come very close to achieving their goal. And of course, someone is going to betray them and put them at a disadvantage because the villain can't tolerate the fact that the heroes can overcome the challenge he'd set for them. On top of all that, the elephant in the room, which is Jurgen's death, is obviously going to be addressed at some point in the film, which will make or break all the progress Ferry and Jezebel have made. It's all very conventional, but since it's presented with a lot of authenticity and seriousness, I didn't mind seeing these characters do a quick run-through of all the clichés that are associated with gangster movies. It works better as a special episode of Undercover than as a sequel to Ferry. That being said, no matter how you look at it, Lex comes off as a pretty poor villain. I mean, everyone's hyping him up as this psychotic guy who's really unpredictable and all that, and he does almost nothing to really challenge Bouman. Maybe it's a bit of an off-base opinion, but Dennis should have been the main antagonist of the movie instead of this trendy bad guy.
The aesthetic, atmosphere, music, and overall feel of Ferry 2 are pretty much in line with the rest of the Netflix franchise. If you like The Batman and if you've recently watched The Penguin and are looking for gritty and dirty stuff like that, I guess these 2 movies are a good place to start. The use of rain, guns, and blood in the opening heist sequence really made it feel like it was happening somewhere in Gotham and that the Caped Crusader was about to stop by for a chat (with his fists). The same can be said for the almost poetic final showdown that takes place in Zonnedauw.
The action design, cinematography, stunts, acting, and editing in these scenes are all really realistic and have enough dynamism to keep you on the edge of your seat. That said, everything that happens between the heist and the showdown felt like a poor attempt to pad out the runtime. Maybe fans of the series will enjoy it, but the absurd drug-making sequence at police headquarters just took me out of the otherwise immersive viewing experience. It's like all sense of believability and logic went out the window for the sake of a little drama.
The performances in Ferry 2 are fantastic. Frank Lammers is excellent, as always. He has been playing this character for the past 6 years, and it is truly amazing that he continues to discover so many new things.
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