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Directed By
Guy Ritchie
Written By:
Guy Ritchie
Cast:
Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh, Vinnie Jones, Sting, P. H. Moriarty, Steve Sweeney, Frank Harper, Stephen Marcus
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Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
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Movie Review by Chris
November 2nd, 2008
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Funny, violent and hugely entertaining are five words in which easily describe 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' from director Guy Ritchie. Recently directing his latest British gangster flick Rock 'n Rolla, Guy has made quite a name for himself in the world of British action films. Each of his movies are funny and none the less entertaining, and each one follows the same patters. A lot of characters, a lot of stories and big action in the end, which again describes 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. Starring Jason Statham, Dexter Fletcher and Vinnie Jones, this is a must see for fans of the genre.
Four c*ckney wide-boys are tricked into owing 500,000 nicker to the local gang-land boss and porn king, 'Hatchet' Harry Lonsdale. With the very real threat of finger amputation looming over them the lads come up with a plan to nick the cash from their next-door neighbours: a gang of hardcase drug-dealers... Meanwhile, 'Hatchet' ain't none too pleased when a pair of antique shotguns wot he wants are sold on by a pair of Scouse thieves, to be used in a "job"... The involvement of a conscientious debt-collector, some public school "chemists", a psychotic hash-baron, a lot of guns and knives, ensures that karma is surrealistically resolved (just!) before the end credits roll...
The film deals a lot with the mafia and just four guys, who aren't exactly the smartest people in the world. They get themselves involved in things which they know they can't handle, so when they have to result themselves to violence and useless mayhem, they have no idea what theyre doing. Actually, the four main characters the whole movie focuses around doesn't really do anything to violent. Most of the action and killing in the film is from other characters within different plots. We get a man who sells black market objects, in which he gets from rotten people. He then screws himself over by selling it to people in which the objects were stolen from. The film never really gets confusing though, like most attempts at this genre do. Take Smokin' Aces for example, a lot of characters and plot, but extremely confusing at a point.
The acting is all rather fine here, as one of the only main big actors I recognized was action star Jason Statham, who has made quite a name for himself here in the states. He recently played in The Bank Job, Death Race and the upcoming Transporter 3. I think hes a great actor who has done a lot in a short amount of time, so he's really pulling in the money well. Im surprised he isnt deprived of violence or a mayhem lover here, since most of his roles have him killing people left and right. He has no problem with violence though as Bacon, he sees it and doesnt really seem to mind it to much.
If you look at most movies in which relate to 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', they have the same type of set up. In the beginning we get a brief introduction of each character were going to need to know, most of the time its narrarated by one of the other characters. We then get introduced to the conflict and some plot twists are added in there to keep it interesting, within the last 25 minutes it becomes complete mayhem and this is where the fun gets going. Guy Ritchie is a fantastic director and there are scenes where he puts in slow mo, like a brief shootout scene, and this makes it a lot cooler. He's not to big on using special effects since everything we see is completely practical. This is a pretty violent movie, just not the way most major gore hounds would see it. A lot of stuff is off screen an this adds a little bit of imagination to it so I didnt worry bout it to much.
'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' is funny and entertaining, without a doubt. Check it out on Watch Instantly if you have NetFlix, its worth the time.
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Nov 4, 2008 10:52 PM