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When his girlfriend is killed, street bully Danny (Chris Bell) decides to enter the Essex underworld. Here we have yet another film on the infamous Range Rover Killings, their focus in Essex Boys and Bonded by Blood. A number of films have already been made on the Range Rover killings, and even though I know someone finds it deeply intriguing, they still have a life from a cinematic perspective. It is baffling, considering a movie has already been made about it both true and fictitious but there is clearly more to be said.
The latest film to be added to this list is Essex Boys Law of Survival. Surprisingly, it is not the last. Steven M Smith who directed Hooligans at War: North V South at the beginning of the year, added to his filmography with Essex Boys: Law of Survival. In this one, two British Army best friends Danny and a character played by Alan Lund become London gang leaders after abandoning their posts.
Chris Bell features in Law Or Survival with some other familiar cast from Hooligans At War.
So, does Law Of Survival offer any new insights? Probably not, but it does provide both front of camera and back of camera participants more practice on how to make films. That is always a positive regardless of who has created it. Very splendid to see new films made by people that one admires.
To be very honest, any criticism that I have on the film rests mostly on those of us who have been following the Essex murders movie genre for the last half year, and similarly, I feel a level of fatigue towards the comic superhero movies. I do think that I am reaching that level of fatigue when it comes to movies based on Essex gangland. (I do have just enough room for Bonded By Blood 2 and Rise Of The Footsoldier Part 2, which are coming out roughly anytime soon).
The filmmakers behind ‘The Law Of Survival’ have surely improved, and their works are becoming quite viewable. I would still, however, long these folks would get more time to film and get a better budget, and I guess it comes back to what I said regarding their previous movie Hooligans At War Any UK independent filmmaker completing a film and getting it on the shelves is an achievement by itself. Perhaps, I’ll get to interview some of them on one of my podcasts someday to help the audience understand just how challenging it is to produce and market a feature-length film with little to no money. I commend everyone for keeping on and finishing yet another film within the same year. Some of them make it look too easy.
Let us all appreciate Steven Smith and Chris Bell for doing a large part of the heavy lifting in writing the film and also making sure it gets to the finish line. I know they are hard at work on more projects, and I’ll be expecting to watch those on release just the same way I was looking forward to seeing Essex Boys: Law Of Survival.
With a little digging, one may come across many vicious critiques, most of which are based on a severely flawed understanding of the filmmaking process which, considering the context, isn’t exactly essential. The time I spent watching the film is the time I took to make judgment on the film. You should do the same and I really do encourage it. It allows the filmmakers to shift their focus on their future works whilst providing you with your own independent opinion on the matter within an hour and a half.
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