This movie has no relation to the story of Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way. I mean, where's Pachanga? Where's the Crippled? What about his whole entire back story he gave while walking down Spanish Harlem. It would've been easy to make an actual prequel instead of a series of gimmicks and cheesy endings. Like fr, bro. Carlito never escaped to paradise, he died wishing that he could settle down with Gail and raise his child. There was no relation or reference to Gail at all in this movie. Carlito was incarcerated for 4-8 years before Carlito's Way had actually started. The person who made this had no idea about the plot, setting, and story of Carlito. Basically this is just a movie about another drug dealer/ killer who was friends with Puff Daddy. They really let me down with this movie.

It's probably a fact I'm one of the few persons who prefers "Carlito's Way" over the other Brian De Palma directed crime epic "Scarface". In other words; I absolutely love the original "Carlito's Way" and I'm sad to say that this prequel is nowhere in the same league as the first and original movie! Not just story, character or actor wise but more quality wise! This is a very simplistic, low budget production, that never even was played in cinemas. And rightfully so. This movie has no right to appear in any cinema and it even has absolutely no right to exist in the first place.It's not like I completely hated this movie but it's simply being such a pointless on to watch. It has almost nothing to do with "Carlito's Way" at all and totally has a different tone and style to it. But also when you look at this movie as just a crime/thriller, it's being a terribly lacking one, that poorly got put together by both its cast and crew.The cast is most obviously lacking. It consists just out of a bunch of guys, trying to act tough, which does not work out all, simply because they aren't very good actors. They are all terribly unconvincing in their roles, which also really takes away a lot of the tension for the movie and it's being hard to feel involved with anyone or anything in it.It's not even being a very good 'origins' movie. So supposedly this movie is to show you how Carlito rose to power and gained control over the New York drugs world. But the movie doesn't show you how he slowly rises and gained more and more power and respect but it just simply shows how stuff just happens to him. He doesn't ever come across as a cunning and tough drug-lord, who isn't afraid to steal or kill.They tried hard though. I mean, there is a scene in which out of nowhere Carlito suddenly shoots and kills a couple of guys. It really came out of the blue, which might sound like a positive thing, ala Michael Corleone in "The Godfather" but it really doesn't fit the character, the moment and just the overall style and story of the movie. It doesn't make sense for him to kill and he never does anything outrageous like that again, later on in this movie, which lets the scene feel all the more out of place and out of character for him. For the rest of the movie he actually comes across as a very nice guy, which probably is being another good indication how miscast Jay Hernandez is in his role. Throughout his career he has always played friendly guys, so why even consider him casting in a tough gangster role, that first got immortalized by Al Pacino, in 1993.The movie also absolutely tells you nothing about the background or youth of Carlito. In that regard, this movie feels all the more pointless as a prequel. It doesn't tells you anything new, at least nothing interesting and you are obviously way better off watching the original "Carlito's Way" instead and forget about this movie.But it's not just simply the casting or characters themselves that make this movie a poor and disappointing one. It also really could had used a more tight script, that offered some good moments and surprises and some better storytelling as well. This movie really doesn't get pleasantly told, which makes you feel glad when the movie is finally over.Bad as a genre flick and even worse as a prequel to "Carlito's Way"!4/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

In the 60's, the Puerto Rican Carlito Brigante (Jay Hernandez), the Afro-American Earl (Mario Van Peebles) and the Italian Rocco (Michael Kelly) become best friends while in prison. When they are released, Rocco intermediates a heroin business with a family of the Italian Mafia leaded by Artie Bottolota Sr. (Burt Young). Carlito negotiates with the lord Leroy "Hollywood Nicky" Barnes (Sean Combs) the area where the trio could operate in his neighborhood and sooner the three friends become powerful. Later, Carlito dates and has an affair with the beautiful Leticia (Jaclyn DeSantis). When Earl decides to move to Barbados with his girlfriend and leave the heroin business, his stupid younger brother causes a situation with the Italian mobsters, and Carlito and Rocco have to resolve the mess to save their lives."Carlito's Way: Rise to Power" is not as bad as written in many reviews in IMDb. Actually it is a good story, with the beginning of the criminal life of Carlito, showing his ability to negotiate. The story has good doses of humor, a decent plot and a surprising twist in the end. I do not dare to compare this movie with the excellent Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way, but I personally liked the explanations of the criminal life of Carlito and his friends. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "O Pagamento Final: Rumo ao Poder" ("The Final Payment: in the Way to the Power")

The movie wasn't bad. This comment isn't for people who haven't seen the movie, its for people who didn't understand the movie, like a number of the people commenting this board.The movie is called "Carlito's Way: RISE TO POWER," hence why it displayed him rising to power. Had it been called something like, "Carlito's Way: Rise to Power and The His Arrest," or something to that extent I Would have been disappointed in the lack of jail time at the end of the movie too.This movie did just what it had planned to do, it showed Carlito's Rise to Power which involved pushing heroin, dealing with Nicky, dating Leticia, and his involvement with the Italians. Basically, him rising to power, and gaining his immense wealth. That's the movie. It's a prequel because it comes before Carlito's Way, the sequel.It obviously didn't tell of his relationship with Gail, or what put him in jail. Perhaps that's for a story of another movie. Say Carlito is in his late 20s to early 30s, I don't know his age, and then say he's in his late 40s when played by Al Pacino. Therefore there's still about 15 years unexplained if not more. I can't recall how many years he was in jail before "Carlito's Way" but if it was less than ten they'd have to skip around 5 years at the end of "Rise to Power" to get to him being put in jail. That would have confused you even more.If you happen to think that a prequel MUST lead up to a sequel, you'd be incorrect. One of the most popular sagas of all time shows you this. In Star Wars Episode 1, Anakin is a child, next thing you know he's a grown man. What happened in between? How was puberty for a Jedi? All the questions in between are unanswered, whether you ask them or not. The prequel did not simply lead you through every second until the sequel. Episode 3 is the prequel to Episode 4, but Luke's entire life is unanswered. Doesn't make Episode 3 a horrible prequel does it?If you want, make up your own "Carlito's Way: Downfall," I don't care, but don't say it was a horrible movie. It was a well done movie and well acted. It showed you a portion of Carlito's life you hadn't seen before. If you can't get over the fact that they didn't lead up to his arrest, then you're missing out on a good movie for a dumb reason.