Darkland: The Return (2023) User Reviews

Great movie caught my attention - However,

[useless-1213 · 7/10 · 19 May 2023]

The movie is what you'd expect from a sequel. The protagonist, Zaid, is in his kind of "redemption arc". Kinda like the first one just with a different plot.

Even though the main antagonist didn't have a direct connection to Zaid, the antagonist made sense, and was very well made. It struck a perfect balance, as it wasn't overly exaggerated or forced. The absence of a direct connection between the two characters actually added to the intrigue and suspense, making the conflict even more compelling.

The movie has a lot of dillemas that Zaid has to choose between which I personally enjoy. Which creates a sense of connection to the character for me. It's not like one of those low budget horror movies where you question every decision the protagonist makes.

It had a lot of action scenes (which you would obviously expect), and they were very well made. For some, maybe a bit over-exaggerated considering they were in Denmark, where stuff like that rarely happens. But in the movie, it occurs on a daily basis, with characters pulling out their machine guns. I'm not familiar with the gang environment, but I doubt the standard equipment includes an AR or whatever that dude had.

Overall, the movie really caught my attention, and I was on the edge of my seat a couple times. The mix of police, violence, action, gang, emotions (not too much please) really made a nice cocktail. I would definitely recommend this movie, and you won't regret watching it.

However,

First of all the highway scence when Zaid and his son Noah returns from Tivoli, they get shot at in a driveby shooting. The kid, as you'd expect, dugs down in terror. However, as Zaid made a badass pit maneuver, it almost felt like nothing happened. The scene then cuts to Zaid and Noah sitting in the car and talking about origami? Almost like a 7 year old didn't just get blasted into pieces.

Second of all when Zaid takes contact to Stine (his sons mother) she didn't even question how a guy who murdered multiple guys is out of prison early? That sequence felt rushed. - points to the script writer.

Lastly we have the ending. I think people will have a mixed feeling about it. It ends off with didi helping Zaid shooting the antagonist. Somehow predictable, maybe you would've expecteded the PET agent to come help him instead. It then ends with him being arrested again. At first I thought it would be because of a threequel, but then I realised "what would a threequel be about?". In the end he pushes away the picture of Noah, as a sign of, "I'm never going to see him again." Would a threequel just be a random gang movie then? Honestly, I was exptecting Zaid to die. Maybe that would've been a better ending to these two movies?

More Dar Salim action roles please, more Danish genre films and fewer "professionals"

[xnicofingerx · 7/10 · 26 December 2023]

At first I couldn't remember the content of the first film, but I gave it a solid rating of 7 and I like Dar Salim. A world-class European actor, officially ennobled with The Covenant at the latest.

As time goes by, the memories come flooding back, an academic in the maelstrom of violence, a man seeing red. But with more inner strife than the original. And so it goes on, half an hour of prison thriller, a brief change of plot, a bit of family drama, and then back to the usual action pattern via a milieu study. Salim is simply fun, a good mime and authentic action star and Denmark can do genre cinema, the envy of a German.

Unfortunately, this is another film that shows how our wonderful European world is being enriched by so-called "Fachkräfte" from the Middle East / North Africa.

Better than the first - which is pretty good

[BobTheJoker · 9/10 · 18 April 2023]

Underverdnen 2 (Darkland 2), is better than the first, which I thought was pretty good. This one has a story that is a bit deeper and we have more relatable characters. Personally very entertained all the way through and felt like a high quality movie on more aspects than the last one. I really want to emphasise on characters and story.

Darkland 1 main flaw was that is lacked interesting characters - both villains and friends. And the story was a basic John wick like story. Darkland 2 has more of what the first lacked.

A rare thing that the second movie is the better, but when it happens it sure do happen in style and can take you by surprise.

I can recommend this movie same as I can recommend the first one. But this is definitely and upgrade to a movie which I never would have expected a sequel to. But here it is.

(Don't let me ruin it for you, but let's be honest)

[hlol-41248 · 4/10 · 16 April 2023]

I liked the first movie because of some characters and dialogue scenes. There were some good scenes between the main character, Zaid, and his friend Alex.

This one, however, the story itself is more tangled than ever. The motif for using Zaid as an informer is stupid. What was the plan to begin with? How does his wife not question the fact that he is somehow out of jail early for three murders and now wants to hang out with their son?

The scenes between Zaid and his son act like filler scenes, and there is absolutely no depth in them. The highway scene is just absurd and beyond stupid.

We are supposed to act as if Zaid is some type of "anti-hero"; in reality, he is doing what got his own brother killed and is probably the worst father on the planet. You are almost forced to sympathize with the gangsters since they at least acknowledge their own lifestyle without excuses. Besides that, the movie could easily be a caricature of what a racist would believe immigrants to talk and act like.

How does Zaid know to use trackers?

[mmuggi · 8/10 · 25 May 2023]

As if Salim wasn't enough, the actor gets a fight to the finish line by a completely new talent, Or by new talents. For Fenar Ahmad has a commendable ability to spot fresh faces and perhaps also looks into an undergrowth, which not many other Danish directors look into.

Soheil Bavi is seen as the icy Muhdir, who is making his Danish debut here and is Danish, but trained as an actor in Iran. And also young Ahmad Ayman as Diddi must be mentioned as an interesting type who has something to offer in terms of acting.

At the same time, he knows how to utilize the Copenhagen locations, so that they have an international format as backdrops. Rarely has our capital looked so grimly delicious. So much so that you often completely forget that it is Copenhagen. And that is meant to be positive.

Fenar Ahmad has a thing for using Danish street rappers in his film, first Gilli, then Branco and this time Noah Carter.

The action scenes were better filmed in the first movie. More lively than in this one.

Do I want a 3? No, in my opinion there is nothing more to tell.

Waste of time n money

[kennie-vinkel · 1/10 · 31 August 2023]

I dont know what i expected but i was dissappointed. All in all a slow and boing movie. If you see the money gap between the first movie and this one, You would expect more and biggere action scenes.

The first scene starts out okay, and then its like down the hill.

Dar Salim makes a "okay" charactar but even he cannot up lift this boing script.

I can recommend the first one. It had everything a action movie should have. But Darkland the return is more like af cheap nock off, except its not cheap.

Every character in this movie cannot wait to knock each other of the throne. Everybody talk all the time, no action. I would call it a drama.

Sleep tight.

Dar Salim nails it.

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 8/10 · 30 August 2023]

This was slightly better than the first film, but not by much. There's no real action until past the half way mark, and writer director Fenar Ahmad still hasn't mastered filming the action scenes right. He missed most of the choreography and it was filmed too choppy. Some action scenes where actually more poorly filmed than the first film. Nevertheless, still a great story, albeit predictable and cliched, but thanks to Salim's outstanding performance and showing his full acting range towards the end in the garage beat-down scene pleading for his family, it made some of the rookie filmmaking mistakes bearable. Plus adding Birgitte Hjort Sorensen to the cast was a welcome addition as she was really easy on the eyes. It's a great sequel to the first film, and although I would've preferred some closure at the end, I'll take the unresolved ending as a continuation to a part 3 hopefully coming out real soon. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me.

Great movie!

[brooklynnesulfridge-61633 · 10/10 · 1 September 2023]

Darkland The Return is even better than the first Darkland and I loved it. Just found it this week and searched everywhere for the second part in English and finally found it after a few days of searching. Dar is just an amazing actor. I think he's my new favorite! I'm American so Darkland was the first movie I'd ever seen him in but I now plan to watch all his movies. He made me really feel what he was supposed to be feeling without using any words.

With that said, every actor in this movie was good to be honest. Soheil Bavi, Stine and Birgitte were good as well. I certainly hope there's going to be a 3rd part though, considering the ending.