Carlito's Way: Rise to Power

R

2005

1h 33m

Crime

Drama

List

33%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

50%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After serving time together in prison, three gangsters from different backgrounds -- Carlito (Jay Hernandez), Earl (Mario Van Peebles) and Rocco (Michael Kelly) -- join forces and take over the lucrative heroin trade in Harlem, N.Y. However, their partnership with a gangster (Burt Young) is threatened when Earl's hotheaded little brother, Reggie (Mtume Gant), disrespects the mobster's son and then kidnaps him. A ransom goes out on Reggie's head, and the friends are forced to choose sides.

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Liam D

This Drama is a decent movie but it's an kinda unnecessary follow up

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/05/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Totally miscast Carlito. Acting and writing subpar

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Tariq B

Screw what the crowd says, great movie. Rare instance of the sequel with new cast, working actually. Even Puffy is good as Hollywood Nicky. Great performances all around with Mtume Gant adding depth with the subplot of a black-panther punk. Jay Martinez is excellent as Pacino 20 years previous. Soundtrack is full of obscure songs of the day and age; the O'Jays in particular, getting the royal treatment in a basement bar.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Puffy stole the show.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

If it wasn't for the Carlito's Way collection set I would have never known about the existence of the prequel. Now a prequel in this case makes some sense exploring more Carlito Brigante life and diving deeper into how he became to be the man he went on to be is by no means a bad thing. Unfortunately this prequel does very little in terms of developing Carlito Brigante further than what was already established in the original Carlito's Way. Carlito's Way: Rise To Power is set in the late 1960s, follows Carlito Brigante emerging as the heroin czar of Harlem. Much like the original its heavily driven by dialogue, but the narrative path taken is strictly linear. Following the routine of a standard crime film the script does not bring anything you haven't seen before to the table; you have a young criminal rising to power, the wise and well spoken mentor, to the old and angry Italian wiseguy who doesn't like young punks, romance with a street wise woman, and many more crime film tropes. Going as far as showing the outcome of the climax like it predecessor in the beginning of the film. Unoriginality only begins to scratch the surface of problems. Characters are entirely new without a single one created in attempt to bridging the two films. These new characters are written with good intentions, but the interactions between them is predictable. One new character upon being immediately introduce is utterly unlikable only to become a driving force for the film narrative. At no point is this character downfall ever tragic because by design making the film most unlikable character have emotional weight does not work. This same notion works with the rest of the film. You have a standard setup or plot device with a predictable outcome appearing superficial only to become a major part of the story serving it weakness. Story elements are often half baked, generic in execution, and empty of any risks. The film's ending is easily the biggest drawback of the story. With this being a prequel it fails to show exactly how Carlito Brigante went to jail for a force happy ending. At no point does this prequel help pave the way for events of the original "Carlito's Way". By the time the climax comes you will truly feel just how unspectacular everything turned out to be. Jay Hernandez who played Carlito does a decent job, but if you are looking for the intensity of Al Pacino, it won't be there. Hernandez's smoothly understated performance and the colorful presence of Mr. Van Peebles performances are better than the film itself. Sean Combs give sa moderate performance looking directly at the camera and delivery over the top lines to the best of his abilities. Luis Guzman (also in the original Carlito's Way) was entertaining as the nutty hit-man. His casting in this film is a huge problem not only does he play a completely different character, but it adds confusion seeing an actor from the original breaking continuity and comes off as goofy that Carlito would meet two people who look and act exactly the same. Mtume Gant comes off as annoying, but that's mostly to blame on the material. If anything Mtume Gant is quite good making his character as unlikable as possible. It's a shame the material didn't offer him any scene to show of his character good sides. Aside from poor writing is director Michael Bregman is too blame for this lifeless prequel. Wait why does that name sound familiar...he was a producer on "Carlito's Way". In that that case his directorial effort is awful. Every scene is just plainly shown without a personality or any kind style behind the camera. Michael Bregman simply films a scene and that's it. No emotion, no eye for details, nothing that conveys the interest from Bregman. Everything is comes across more lifeless than the characters killed in this movie. Bregman might have worked on the original, but chose not to retain anything that worked in Brain De Palma film. Carlito's Way: Rise To Power fails as a standalone film for staying closely to the genre routine without an attempt to be different and as a prequel fail to connect the dot to its predecessor in any way. It fails in these two areas even more so taking into account that with a failure to expand upon a beloved film in any area. It's just about as superficial as a prequel can get.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Decent direct to video prequel. The direction sucks, but the cast is really good. Good adaptation of the books as well.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

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Michael Scott Bregman

Director

Jay Hernandez

Carlito Brigante

Mario Van Peebles

Earl

Luis Guzmán

Nacho Reyes

Michael Kelly

Rocco

Diddy

Hollywood Nicky

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Trailer Bulletin: Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power

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Joe Leydon

Variety

Even by the notoriously undemanding standards of direct-to-vid spin-offs, Carlito's Way: Rise to Power is conspicuously underwhelming.

Oct 6, 2005

Full Review

Lou Lumenick

New York Post

Writer-director Michael Bregman (son of Martin, who produced both films) keeps things moving briskly on the way to an improbably happy ending.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 30, 2005

Full Review

Pablo Villaça

Cinema em Cena

A produo barata compromete o visual e a reconstituio de poca e Hernandez, embora bom ator, irregular em sua tentativa de imitar Pacino. Ainda assim, os personagens (Van Peebles, em especial) e a trama so interessantes.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 17, 2006

Full Review

Scott Weinberg

DVDTalk.com

Aside from a few strong performances and some solid period design, Rise to Power is a round, silver sleeping pill.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 9, 2005

Full Review

JoBlo

JoBlo's Movie Network

...a horrible, horrible movie.

Rated: 2/10

Oct 7, 2005

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a legitimate piece of work (and not just a sleazy attempt to milk the popularity of the original).

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 26, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

After serving time together in prison, three gangsters from different backgrounds -- Carlito (Jay Hernandez), Earl (Mario Van Peebles) and Rocco (Michael Kelly) -- join forces and take over the lucrative heroin trade in Harlem, N.Y. However, their partnership with a gangster (Burt Young) is threatened when Earl's hotheaded little brother, Reggie (Mtume Gant), disrespects the mobster's son and then kidnaps him. A ransom goes out on Reggie's head, and the friends are forced to choose sides.

Director: Michael Scott Bregman
Producer: Jay Cannold
Screenwriter: Michael Scott Bregman
Production Co: Pick-Up Prods.
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2016
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Surround

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