Much much better than I expected

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2006)

I must say that I had my doubts about seeing Frodo enter the Football Factory, but I decided to check it out.
I had my doubts like everyone else about just how an American would be integrated into a firm, but having him be a cousin to the leader of the firm, very well played by Charlie Hunnam, made the story very plausible. Elijah Wood plays an expelled student who struggles to find himself, and his identity, delving into the realms explored by Fight Club, tapping into his more primal self.
Unlike Football Factory, this movie shows a much less glamorous side of violence. The absence of firearms in the UK, unlike with American gangs, lessens the death toll, but the cycle of revenge and retaliation does exist, especially when people take the fight to a more personal level. At the beginning its explained that its about the buzz of the fight and maintaining your reputation, but as the violence progresses we easily see how it can go beyond this, and get personal, often with tragic results.
I generally dislike movies in which an American protagonist comes in to save the natives, but this movie rarely treads into that territory, no doubt due to the casting choice of Wood. He serves as our guide into this realm, but he knows his place. He is a participant, but he's not the knight in shining armor. This movie has a message, but its not preachy, the meaning is very clear.
I did not expect to like this movie, and while the story is time tested and true, the setting is good, all the characters are well played and with depth to them, and the movie's pace is very exciting. I honestly enjoyed this movie, more and more as it went on. As the film ended, I found myself thinking back to the end of the Football Factory with Tommy asking himself "Was it worth it?" This movie answers this question as well.
This movie is definitely worth watching if you have an opportunity to do so.