Excellent follow up. It's a dour, hyper-realistic window into the life of another petty criminal. One from the original, who served as little more than a buffoon caricature there. Here, we're pressed to follow him and see his other dimensions. Which Mikkelsen handles excellently. Great score, and another haunting ending. This is another great crime picture.

In the same places on the underbelly of the prosperous Danish kingdom where the would-be huckster Frank from the first game perished, his equally dimwitted henchman Tony, having served his time, is trying to at least not screw up by cutting off his share. Mads's hero is more solid and bolder. So that's why he got away with it?

'Pusher II' improves upon its predecessor, if only by a little. I found this 2004 flick to be comparatively more pleasant to watch, not in terms of a lack of violence or anything (there's plenty!) but more so just as a film in general - it feels more well made and a bit more progressive story-wise. It's still nothing perfect or anything that enthralled me at all, but I definitely class it highly (albeit minorly) than 'Pusher'. I would've preferred a sequel that followed up with Kim Bodnia's Frank, at least character-wise anyway as actor-wise Mads Mikkelsen is the one I'd prefer to watch instead. Mikkelsen puts in a good performance, 8 years on from his acting debut in the original. Away from Mads, Leif Sylvester Petersen is probably the standout - though all the support cast are pretty much level with each other to be honest. I'm interested to see where the third and final flick from this series goes, given Mads Mikkelsen's absence and, from what I gather from the tiniest of look-ups out of pure nosiness, Kim Bodnia's continued disappearance. Viaplay recommended 'Pusher 3' at the end of this film and their promo image features Zlatko Burić, so I know he makes it a hat-trick of appearances at least.

Much more solid than the first film. Much more Mads. Better music rapidly sets the attitude of every scene and quickly draws you in.

The sequel to "Pusher" goes for the same style but at the same time adopts a subtler and remarkably slow-paced approach. The focus is on Tonny's fragility and ineptitude rather than the violence surrounding him. In line with Refn's previous films, even if a little forgettable.