Directed by Nick Nevern, “Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance” stars Craig Fairbrass as the protagonist. While the final action sequence falters, the film excels in nearly every other aspect, making it arguably the most well-rounded entry in the Rise of the Footsoldier franchise. It delivers a taut thriller experience, expertly ratcheting up tension at key moments. The narrative boasts a clear structure that lays the groundwork for future installments. The initial glimmer of a lucrative drug empire quickly evaporates, devolving into a familiar revenge story when a young man named Kenny is brutally murdered by a ruthless mafia outfit. Let’s delve deeper into the plot to unpack the events that unfold.
Spoilers Ahead
Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance (2023) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:
The film opens with Kenny and Tate trying to rob two armed guards who hold a bag full of cash, but all of a sudden, Kenny’s mask comes off. In that moment of hesitation, he shoots at one of the guards’ legs. Knowing the gravity of the situation, Tate asks Kenny to run away as there is already a police vehicle in pursuit. After a while, Tate realizes that they can not outrun the police car. Therefore, he stops at a distance and shoots at their car, leaving them injured so that they can not chase them anymore.
During the whole process, Tate’s mask never comes off. Later, while counting the cash, he realizes that they are only able to loot one box out of the two. Moreover, that one box does not contain the money that Kenny promised to Tate. Hence, Tate angrily throws the box at him, resulting in bleeding. Tate feels guilty of his action as he loves Kenny, his son so much and wants to take good care of him. Later Kenny meets with Billy, who is a queer and a boxer, and together they plan to start their own chain.
What Happens to Kenny?
Kenny meets with Sam, an accountant of his father, who gives him the required loan from Tate’s account. Kenny goes to meet with the dealers along with Billy. They have planned to sell a quality drug that is new in town and start their own business, but for that, money needs to be paid upfront. Kenny meets with Mo, who is the owner of the drug business. All of a sudden, Mo’s men attack Kenny and Billy, taking them captive. The reason, however, remains a mystery. Meanwhile, Tate visits Hexell, one of the local drug dealers just like Mo, and asks for some fantasy tablets, but he will not be able to pay him upfront.
However, Tate promises him a larger return, so Hexell gives him the pills so that he can make money and give it back to him. The following morning, Kenny’s body is discovered, and Tate is asked to visit for verification. Tate sees there are numerous stab wounds on Kenny’s body. He asks the detectives if they know anything about the killer. They say that Kenny is recently seen robbing and asks Tate whether he knows anything about it. Tate realizes that he needs to find the killers all by himself. Later that day, Joey, one of Tate’s old partners in crime, comes to his house.
Who wants Tate dead?
Tate goes to meet with Sam and learns that Kenny was supposed to go and meet people with Billy. Tate tries to hunt Billy down so that he knows the killer’s identity. With time, things start to get more complex as Hexell’s lover, Charlotte, acts very suspicious as she tries to open Hexell’s locker. After multiple tries, she is successful in doing so. She later contacts the man Hexell generally visits when it is time to kill someone. Charlotte shares Tate’s image with that man to assassinate him. The reason remains unclear as of now.
Tate goes to meet with Billy’s father and learns that he is already running his own mob with a couple of goons. Their meeting does not end up well as the detectives have already arrived at the spot to question Billy’s father, Fergus, about Kenny’s death. Fergus does not know where Billy is. Seeing that even the police are looking for him, he asks his men to find his son at any cost. Later, Tate is questioned by the detectives as they see him as the prime suspect in his son’s murder. They think Tate, too, was involved in the robbery, and since it was a bad day, he killed him to retain the share.
Tate’s desperate search for answers
Tate leaves the police station anyway because they do not have any evidence to hold him for now and meets with Joey outside. Joey is tasked with selling the drug that Tate has bought from Hexell, and he says that it is going pretty well. Tate visits the club where Billy used to work. With a bit of trickery, he gets the address of a bar where Billy can be found. However, Tate finds out that Joey also goes to the same bar. When he enters the bar, he hears someone talking about Billy inside. Soon after, Tate is confronted by Aziz and Mo. But they do not recognize him as Kenny’s father, so they let him go.
Right after that, Tate receives an unknown phone call that tells him to come to a particular location. When Tate goes there, he finds Charlotte locked inside a car, and that car blasts right in front of his eyes. Tate hears the police sirens as he runs away straight back to Joey’s house. Seeing Joey at the same bar where Billy goes makes Tate think that Joey is involved somewhere. However, Joey confesses that he only had gone to have some fun with one of the girls in the bar. Tate is in serious trouble as he feels that someone is constantly trying to frame him one way or another, be it in the case of Kenny’s murder or Charlotte’s death.
What does Tate learn from Billy?
Finally, we see Billy the Kid, keeping himself hidden from the world inside his aunty’s club. Billy’s friend, Stevey, comes to meet him and tells him that someone (Tate) has asked about him, saying that his father is ill. Billy fears that Mo’s men now know where he can be found and asks his aunt what he should do. His aunty tells him to talk to his father about this, he will sort everything out. The following day, however, Mo and Aziz visit the club where Billy used to work and torture Stevey to get the information. However, before Mo and his men can get to Billy, Tate picks up Stevey and confronts Billy.
Billy then tells him that a couple of weeks ago, a man visited the club with a new drug, and Billy had never tasted something like this before. He tells Kenny about this. Kenny, without having any men along with him, gathers the money and goes to talk to the dealer himself with Billy. But, out of nowhere, they are attacked. When Billy regains consciousness, he finds Kenny screaming at someone. Later, Aziz stabs Kenny right in front of him until he is dead. Billy somehow manages to untie himself and runs away from there.
Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
Is Tate Able to Take Revenge of Kenny’s Death?
Billy helps Tate to enter Mo’s club and after opening multiple doors, Tate finally confronts Mo. However, when Tate is about to kill Mo, he is held at gunpoint by Joey. Later, Tate sees Terry Fisher making a drink. He then reveals that this was all a setup only to kill Tate and his son Kenny because a long time ago, Tate betrayed Joey and Terry over drugs. Charlotte helps Tate in that process, so Terry makes sure that she dies, too. But, what Tate did not know was to whom the drugs actually belonged. It belonged to Mo, and he did not like his drugs to be stolen by someone.
Terry leaves the place, and before Tate can do anything, one of Mo’s men captures Billy and brings him here. Later, Fergus and his man enter the room, but Joey shoots Fergus. After a random gunfight, Mo is left with serious injury, Fergus dies, and Billy kills Aziz. Tate chases Joey for some time until he boards a bus and leaves. Later, we see Hexell is about to go after Tate since he fails to deliver the money as promised. Meanwhile, Tate meets with Sam who gives him money and fake ID to start a new life. However, before leaving the place, Tate says he has one unfinished business, and for that, he requires Sam’s help.
What Happens to Joey?
At the end of the film, we see Sam leaving a car in a parking lot. The following day, there is blood around the car. The police cover the area. When they open the trunk, they find Joey’s body in the same condition as Kenny’s. That night, when Tate said he had one unfinished business, he meant Joey’s death. Billy tells Tate before the gunfight that it was Terry who introduced him and Kenny to Mo. Since he is now out of reach, Tate finds the next close accomplice of Terry and kills him brutally, taking revenge for Kenny’s death.
At the end of the film, we see Terry meeting with a drug distributor named Mr. Greener, and together, they meet with Mo. They plan to collect pills from Mo in Ibiza and then distribute them through Hexell. Since Mo has left the place and now settles himself in Ibiza, Terry takes the opportunity to run the business in his place. While Mo’s primary focus is now setting up a new network in Ibiza, Terry will take charge of Hexell and his connections.
The only problem with this is going to be Tate, as he is also in Ibiza. He sees the whole deal happening from a table not very far from them. In the upcoming film, he will definitely try to finish his business by killing Terry and Mo. For that, he may need to confront Greener and Hexell as well. Tate is setting up his trap while Terry, Greener, Hexell, and Mo are all doing their best, knowing that they are well protected from Tate.
