'Ferry 2' Netflix Review: A Not-So-Merry-Christmas For The Eponymous Gangster

The Marvel Cinematic Universe had gone overboard with its practice of making viewers do homework before watching a movie or a show. I mean, if you wanted to watch Multiverse of Madness, which was a sequel to Doctor Strange, then watching the latter wouldn’t cut it. You would have to go through Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Infinity War, Endgame, and WandaVision to understand the mechanics of the plot. Fans usually came to the studio’s defense, but I guess even they’ve gotten tired of it, and the MCU had to go back to the basics of storytelling. Meanwhile, Netflix isn’t backing down. They made a series called Undercover, which had 3 seasons and featured a character called Ferry Bouman. Then they made a prequel series about that character, titled Ferry: The Series. Then they made a movie that was a prequel to that prequel series, titled Ferry. Now, they’ve released Ferry 2, which serves as a sequel to all of these projects. Is it any good though? Let’s find out.

Wannes Destoop’s Ferry 2, written by Geerard Van de Walle and Tibbe van Hoof, opens with a recap of all the events that have happened in the eponymous character’s life so far. We see his origins in Brabant, where he went after a trio of goons to avenge Brink’s son, Matthijs. He met the love of his life, Danielle, killed Brink, and then entered a business partnership with Danielle’s brother, Lars. He built his empire in the Zonnedauw trailer park, and things were going well. But then his sister, Claudia, died, and so did her daughter, Sonja. Ferry’s grandniece, Jezebel, was orphaned by Ferry himself because he was compelled to kill her father, Jurgen, as well as her grandfather, John. He also killed Marco, Lars, and Remco. Eventually, Danielle left him. Then one of his associates, Dennis, ratted him out to the police, and Ferry went to jail for almost a decade. In the present day, Ferry tries to stay away from crime by being a part of yet another trailer park community, but Jezebel, along with her boyfriend Jeremy, comes to him asking for his help because their business deal with a crazy guy called Lex van Dun has gone wrong. With no real backing, Ferry has to come up with a way to help his grandniece out whilst atoning for the sin of killing her father.

The writing in Ferry 2 is pretty basic. There’s really no element of surprise. Of course, Ferry is going to help out the kids. Of course, they are going to come really close to achieving their goal. And of course, someone is going to betray them and put them on the back foot because the villain can’t tolerate the fact that the heroes can overcome the challenge he had posed. In addition to all that, the elephant in the room, which is Jurgen’s death, is obviously going to be addressed at some point in the film, thereby making or breaking all the progress that Ferry and Jezebel have made. It’s all really by-the-numbers, but since it’s presented with a lot of authenticity and seriousness, I didn’t really mind watching these characters do a speedrun of all the clichés that are associated with gangster flicks. It works better as a special episode of Undercover rather than a sequel to Ferry. That said, no matter how you cut it, Lex comes off as a pretty poor villain. I mean, everyone hypes him up as this psychotic dude who is really unpredictable and whatnot, and he hardly does anything to truly challenge Bouman. Hot take maybe, but Dennis should’ve been the main antagonist of the film instead of this flavor-of-the-week bad guy.

The aesthetics, the vibe, the music, and the overall feel of Ferry 2 are pretty much in line with the rest of the Netflix franchise. If you like The Batman and if you have recently watched The Penguin and you are looking for gritty and grimy stuff like that, I suppose that these 2 movies are a good place to start. The use of rain, guns, and blood in that opening heist sequence really made it seem like it was taking place in some part of Gotham and the Caped Crusader was about to drop by for a chat (with his fists). The same can be said about the borderline poetic final showdown that takes place in Zonnedauw. The action design, the cinematography, the stunts, the acting, and the editing in these set pieces are really grounded while having enough pizazz to bring you to the edge of your seat. That said, everything that happens between the heist and the showdown felt like a poor attempt to pad the runtime. Maybe fans of the shows will enjoy it, but the preposterous drug-making sequence at the police headquarters just took me out of the otherwise immersive viewing experience. It’s like all sense of believability and logic went out of the window for the sake of some drama.

The performances in Ferry 2 are fantastic. Frank Lammers is excellent, as per usual. He has been playing this character for the past 6 years, and it’s truly wild that he continues to unearth so many interesting facets of this gangster. Despite my criticisms about the writing, I think pitting such an experienced actor, who is playing a world-weary character, against relative newbies, who are playing characters who are novices when it comes to the profession of making ecstasy, is genius. Lammers’ humor, dominance, and love come across really beautifully. Aiko Mila Beemsterboer is absolutely brilliant. The way she portrays Jezebel’s grit and determination instantly makes you root for her. And her chemistry with both Frank Lammers and Tobia Kersloot is pitch perfect. Speaking about Tobias, his character does get the shortest end of the stick. If you are having a bad day, I assure you that Jeremy’s day is going worse still, and it’s something about Tobias’ deadpan nature that makes that arc both hilarious and sad. Huub Smit will make you hate Dennis all over again. Marouane Meftah, Hamza Othman, and Jonas Smulders are fine. They deserved better-written characters. As for the rest of the supporting cast, they are all great.

I don’t think fans of the Undercover/Ferry franchise need my recommendation; they are going to watch Ferry 2 regardless of its quality or what I have to say about it. As for the regular folk, I’ll say this: you can watch Ferry (the movie) and then watch this sequel without putting in the hours to cover all the shows, because the sequel does a decent job of recapping the events of the titular character’s life. Of course, watching everything in preparation for the sequel will give you a more satisfying viewing experience. But that’s the thing; I can’t insist anybody to do that because it’s just too much. Something similar is happening over at Paramount+ where Taylor Sheridan is spawning spin-offs and prequel series based on Yellowstone like there’s no tomorrow, thereby making the act of dipping one’s toes into the franchise seem so daunting and intimidating. Well, at least he isn’t confusing people by throwing in feature films into the mix. Either way, I just want streaming platforms and production houses to stop this nonsense. Put an end to this MCU-fication of the streaming space because even the MCU is trying to stop relying on sequels, prequels, and spin-offs to entertain audiences.