"You don't often hear the phrases 'feel-good' and 'Financial Conduct Authority' in the same sentence," said John Nugent in Empire. "But 2023's 'Bank of Dave' was as feel-good as they come, telling the 'true-ish' story of David Fishwick (played by Rory Kinnear), a businessman and Burnley bloke who defied the odds and snooty financial regulators to open a charitable community bank for his fellow Lancastrians."
A "proper heart-warming Brit-com in the classical mould", it became a surprise hit on Netflix – and now, "Dave is back".
'Force of feel-goodery'
The action picks up two years on from where the last film left off, with Dave – "now a minor celebrity" – taking on predatory payday-loan firms on behalf of the good people of Burnley.
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"As with the first film, Piers Ashworth's script hammers its well-meaning message home with the subtlety of a Lancashire hotpot to the face", but "by God, it remains a powerful force of feel-goodery, powered in large part by the almighty piston of Rory Kinnear's gregarious, charismatic performance".
'Script is dire'
I'm afraid I found this sequel "a bit thin and crap", said Robbie Collin in The Telegraph. It feels "about as tethered to reality as 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'"; and the script is dire. Dave's wife tells him: "You're an ordinary bloke standing up against corruption, standing up for ordinary people who don't have lawyers and who don't have a voice!"
The film sticks to the formula that made the original work, said James Mottram in Radio Times.
And while it does "stretch credulity", underlying it is "a very serious topic, smartly presented in a way that never feels too forced".
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