Carlito's Way: Rise to Power

[Heartlessbitch]

So Carlito's Way Rise to Power is a prequel to the original Carlito's Way with Al Pachino.. anyway, it tries to relive some of Carlito's smack running days and show a younger aspect to the Carlito character

 

While I felt this -prequel was attempting to take away some of the bitterness of the original, it did have some redeeming qualities, such as it was a period peice.. showing NYC in the 1960's and how the three different groups (Blacks, Italians, and Puerto Ricans) were divided, but united over the selling of heroin.

 

Another aspect of the film was that there are some who feel that selling smack is just a way to survive the streets, whereas others feel that these three are brining down their own respective communities.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Jay Hernandez (who plays a young Carlito) did justice to the character without being too Pachino-esque. My only complaint about the movie was that they were trying too hard to give this one a happy ending. I got this on Netflix so I really didn't have much to lose, but I'd reccomend seeing it with the original if you haven't already done so.