★★★★★
“PAT TATE HITS IBIZA — AND THE ISLAND MAY NEVER RECOVER.”

RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER: RETRIBUTION – IBIZACLUBBINGGUIDE REVIEW
We’ve been looking forward to this one for quite some time.
Rise of the Footsoldier and Ibiza might not immediately sound like two worlds destined to collide, but after following Retribution in the build-up to its cinema release, we finally got ourselves into a cinema to see whether taking Pat Tate to Ibiza actually worked.
The answer?
Absolutely.

Rise of the Footsoldier: Retribution takes the familiar brutality and black humour of the franchise and transports it into a completely different environment.
Gone are the grey skies and rain-soaked streets we normally associate with Pat Tate.
This time, we’re heading for Ibiza.

WELCOME TO THE 90s
Moving the action to 1990s Ibiza immediately gives Retribution a different identity.
This was an extraordinary period in the island’s history. Club culture was exploding, dance music was changing a generation and Ibiza was developing the reputation that would turn it into the clubbing capital of the world.
Against that backdrop comes Pat Tate.
You can probably imagine how smoothly that goes.
The contrast works brilliantly.
Sunshine, clubs and Mediterranean scenery might suggest paradise, but this is still Rise of the Footsoldier — and trouble is never very far away.

CRAIG FAIRBRASS IS PAT TATE
Craig Fairbrass once again dominates proceedings as Pat Tate.
After so many appearances in the role, there is an effortless confidence to his performance. He knows exactly who Pat is and exactly what audiences expect from him.
Menacing one minute and delivering a brutally funny line the next, Fairbrass remains the engine at the heart of the Footsoldier world.
Moving Pat into Ibiza also gives the character a new playground.
And he certainly makes use of it.

IBIZA BECOMES PART OF THE FILM
Naturally, this was the element we were watching particularly closely.
For IbizaClubbingGuide, Ibiza isn’t simply a backdrop.
The clubs, music, people and history surrounding the island’s nightlife are what we live and breathe, so seeing that world become part of a Footsoldier movie was always going to make Retribution interesting to us.
Thankfully, Ibiza doesn’t feel like an afterthought.

The change of location gives the film a completely different visual character and injects fresh energy into a franchise that has been running for many years.
The nightlife scenes are particularly enjoyable, bringing the criminal world of Footsoldier crashing into Ibiza’s hedonistic atmosphere.

BIGGER, LOUDER AND MORE AMBITIOUS
Retribution feels like the franchise stretching its legs.
There’s a greater sense of scale, the action keeps escalating and the film takes full advantage of its change in surroundings.
The nightclub sequences were always going to grab our attention, but as the story builds towards its final act, things become increasingly explosive.
Very explosive.
We won’t spoil it.
But you’ll know exactly what we mean when you see it.

THE IBIZACLUBBINGGUIDE VERDICT
Rise of the Footsoldier: Retribution knows its audience.
It doesn’t suddenly try to become something the franchise isn’t.
Instead, it takes everything people enjoy about these films — violence, humour, larger-than-life characters, criminal chaos and Craig Fairbrass being unmistakably Craig Fairbrass — and gives it a fresh setting and considerably more sunshine.
For existing Footsoldier fans, this feels like an adventure worth taking.
For us, the Ibiza connection made it even more enjoyable.
Seeing the world we cover every day collide with a British film franchise we’ve followed and supported has been great fun from the moment Retribution was announced.

But ultimately the film still had to deliver.
It did.
Big action. Nightclubs. 90s Ibiza. Pat Tate.
What could possibly go wrong?
Quite a lot, as it turns out.
And that’s precisely why it’s so much fun.

IBIZACLUBBINGGUIDE RATING:
★★★★★ 5/5
“BRUTAL, EXPLOSIVE AND SOAKED IN 90s IBIZA ENERGY.”
Rise of the Footsoldier: Retribution is in cinemas now.