many strong elements just don’t come together in this adaptation of the best-seller; the acting is decent, the cinematography is well-executed, and the music is on point, but the delivery and the tone are completely mismatched
Idris Elba's directorial debut falls flat; this flat and formulaic crime yarn has all sorts of flaws: Woefully under-developed characters, a stilted pace, and dull bursts of violence being just a few
as the lead, Aml Ameen is a strong presence, and Idris Elba specifies the local details of a time-tested story. While "Yardie" hits familiar beats, viewers get the sense they're on Elba's turf
"Yardie" is a sprawling drug-world saga, but whatever narrative flaws it has are helped out by an infectious selection of dub-heavy reggae tracks and an authentically gritty sense of period and place
"Yardie" is a rather listless gangland saga, lacking the muscularity that the genre demands; it's a pedestrian effort that could have used a serious hit of Elba's dangerous charisma onscreen
