Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Spoonixel Amateur movie with Big budget

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

eddie_baggins Feel as though your recent bout of cop flicks haven't been hitting the mark when it comes to the gritty, grimy and downright dark factors? Then Gerard Johnson's Hyena is just the film your looking for! As degenerate and devoid of lightness as your likely to want to get, Hyena is very much so a British crime film painted in the same brush as those dimly lit genre specialties like the U.K's very own The Long Good Friday and in some ways grungy classics like The French Connection and while Johnson's film sadly never eventuates into a film of special power Hyena is a never the less engaging watch, even though its often far too dark for its own good.Centring around drug squad cop Michael who operates under a special set of ethics alongside his team of crack snorting and extortion loving partners of the badge, Hyena starts off in the shadows and while briefly flirts in tiny moments with entering the smallest areas of light retreats as the runtime wears on into the underworlds of London and its criminal underbelly and with its unflinching depiction of violence and a particularly vulgar assault that is likely to offend many that lay witness to it, Hyena is a film not made for everybody and makes no apologies in being so.After only one previous film in the form of the equally small scale Tony, director Johnson should be commended for sticking to his guns and draws out great performances from his leading man Peter Ferdinando as the somehow likable Michael and also the brilliant yet underused Stephan Graham as task force boss David Knight, with Graham once more showcasing just why his one of the industry's most reliable actors with his rare ability to go between charming and dangerous at the drop of a hat. Despite Johnson's and his main casts efforts however Hyena never fully gets going in a narrative sense and with a culmination that seems far too weak for what's come before, Hyena is likely to leave many a viewer cold in both an attachment and engagement sense.Commendable with its depiction of a seedy London cityscape and with a noteworthy score from Johnson's brother Matt and some nice central performances from Ferdinando and Graham, Hyena is good quality material that could've been something special had it struck the right narrative balance in amongst all its limb chopping's, swear words and dirty back alleys of a city that hides a dark yet violently alive world.3 angry Albanians out of 5

Tom Dooley The plot is that a drug squad in London is seemingly as corrupt as the people they are trying to police. Michael (Peter Ferdinando) is the Detective Sergeant and he is the central figure with a taste for coke (the snorting variety) but essentially a good heart that is obscured by his own greed. 'The book' is for other cops in this film where the line between the law and law breakers is very opaque indeed.Then their cozy World gets turned upside down when two Albanian low life's turn up and start to make things rather uncomfortable - that is when the line between good and bad goes from blurred to non existent.Now there are some big names here; Stephen Graham and Neil Maskell both giving convincing performances as ever. The acting is all better than good; the direction and the production are superior too. Some of the scenes are very stylishly done, but the visceral depictions of violence (both on and off screen) makes sure that this does not become a 'classy crime flick'. The ending will leave some a bit annoyed but this is in most places a down to earth and realistically imagined film - hence my rating. Not one for the squeamish but one that shows a good Brit crime film can still be made.

rooee Peter Ferdinando plays Michael, a bent cop trying to partially unbend himself. He's just made a deal with some very naughty Albanian gangsters, only to find they're being investigated by his division and he's being stitched up for a murder he didn't commit. He's up against it: His colleagues are a bunch of racist drunks; his arch-nemesis David (Stephen Graham) has just returned as his senior officer; and a clean-cut cop named Taylor (Richard Dormer) is on a mission to clean up the Met. Meanwhile, Michael takes it upon himself to rescue a trafficked woman named Ariana (Elisa Lasowski), while trying to keep his own girl Lisa (MyAnna Buring) from been chopped into little pieces. Laugh-a-minute stuff, then.The film starts boldly with a heavily stylised raid, followed by a scene in which Michael's crew drink and snort and mouth off about "Pakis". The script is as visceral as the violence; unpretty but pretty authentic. The best of the dialogue – and the most engaging character dynamic – occurs between Michael and David, and the film could have done with more of their tense, skilfully acted showdowns, and slightly fewer scenes of people receiving terrible news by telephone. But that's not to deny the film's grip. There's a genuine sense of danger throughout, and the central theme of cops "crossing a line" is consistently observed throughout – even if Michael's shambolic descent is telegraphed from the start."This isn't the 80s," one character remarks, although the sophomore feature of writer-director Gerard Johnson owes more than a little to the crime movie giants of that decade. Its yawning cityscapes and blue hues are like Michael Mann on tour in London, while the street level stuff – all shadowed alleys and vice-filled backrooms – are straight from Abel Ferrara. Indeed, Bad Lieutenant comparisons are particularly noticeable. Its more recent influences include Gaspar Noe's stalking camera-work and Nicolas Winding Refn's doom-scored spasms of ultraviolence. If all that appeals then great, but don't go in expecting to see anything new or particularly refined.Hyena is a decent gritty Brit-crime thriller, sophisticated in aesthetic if not in content. It's beautifully shot and lit, and the performances are strong – particularly Ferdinando in the lead, the underused Graham, and Kill List's Neil Maskell. Its preoccupations tap into (and exploit) modern fears of police corruption and immigration effectively. Yet all the way up to its ambiguous (read: mildly unsatisfying) ending it feels more like a set of long-established clichés updated to the twenty-teens than a bold new voice in home-grown gangster film.

Red_Identity Really, when it comes down to it, I'm between a 6 and a 7 for this. It's fairly enjoyable, it just doesn't really do anything out of the ordinary until its ending. And if the mainstream likes this, they will absolutely hate the ending and everything it stands for. I don't say that lightly, they will definitely hate it and as a result hate the overall film. I do think the filmmakers should be given props for it, certainly did what they wanted and would rather make a great thematic point than try to just please audiences, and in that respect, they should be congratulated (and it also helps that it's the ind of ending that I usually love, so I wasn't displeased). The lead is really good and at times you really do wish that he was in a better film.