Ferry 2 2024 Movie Review
A sequel we probably didn’t need but somehow got anyway. Ferry Bouman, the charismatic anti-hero who muscled his way out of the Undercover series and into his own spin-off, is back to grace us with another jaunt through Belgium’s underworld. The man who stole the spotlight from the painfully dull policeman “Bob”, proving once and for all that crime does, in fact, pay – until it doesn’t. We watched Ferry’s rise and inevitable fall, losing everything, including his so-called “kingdom.” And by “kingdom,” I mean a scrappy camping ground with his equally scrappy wife Danielle. But credit where it’s due – Frank Lammers lends Ferry a tragic, almost Shakespearean credibility, even when surrounded by beer cans and bad decisions.
This time around, our likeable loser has retired to sunny Spain, the go-to destination for washed-up European criminals to live once more in the unglamourous confines of a caravan, until it gets trashed by his niece Jezebel. (And no, I didn’t make that name up – apparently, the Dutch did.) Jezebel, who is technically the daughter of Ferry’s late niece drags her boyfriend along for the ride and demands Uncle Ferry’s help with a little “business issue.” Just your everyday problem of delivering ecstasy pills to a psychopathic drug dealer. Because nothing says “family bonding” like a high-stakes drug deal.
In today’s cinematic era of girl bosses, Jezebel is barely tolerable, being believable as white trash and moderately annoying. But the plot plays out like a greatest hits compilation of crime thriller clichés. The order for pills is miraculously ready (of course), only to be derailed by predictable backstabbing and double-crossing. And just for kicks, there’s the looming family secret: Jezebel doesn’t know what happened between Ferry and her father, which is sure to rear its melodramatic head at the worst possible moment.
Is Ferry 2 as bad as some reviewers here claimed? Not quite. Lammers brings his A-game, portraying Ferry as a broken, sardonic has-been who still manages to be oddly sympathetic. The bleak Flemish landscape adds its usual dose of gloom and general despair. It’s not brilliant cinema, but it’s not a total trainwreck either. It’s a dark, messy, slightly depressing crime movie that coasts on Lammers’ charm and Ferry’s razor-thin likability. Not great, but at least it’s better than camping with Bob.
PS and if they plan to make yet another spin-off with Jez as main character I’ll definitely bail out.
