Film Review: Snatch

Last week I had a look at Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Because I'm procrastinating too many ideas at the moment, I decided that I'd look at the "sequel" or "spiritual successor" or whatever you'd like to call it. Two years after his previous success, Guy Ritchie decided to do another caper film, whis time with an increased budget and bigger names in his ensemble cast.

The film has two parallel storylines:

1. Frankie Four Fingers, a professional thief played by Benicio del Toro, arrives in London with a large diamond he acquired during a heist in Antwerp with Russian mobsters. One of his accomplices directs him to his brother, an arms dealer known as "Boris the Blade" (played Rade Sherbedgia), with whom he hatches a plan to steal the diamond. Boris preys on Frankie's gambling addiction, hiring two pawnbrokers named Vinnie and Sol (played by Robbie Gee and Lennie James, respectively) to rob him as he goes to a bookies to make a bet on Boris' behalf. When "Cousin Avi" (Dennis Farina), a New York jeweller who sponsored the heist, learns of Frankie's disappearance, he travels to London to find him. In the process, he enlists the services of a hired mercenary named Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones).
2. Small-time boxing promoters Turkish and Tommy (played respectively by Jason Statham and Stephen Graham) attempt to move up in the world of unlicensed boxing. To this end, they join the underground boxing network of the ruthless gangster Brick Top (Alan Ford). Just before their upcoming bout, Tommy and their fighter, Gorgeous George (Adam Fogerty), go to buy a caravan from a group of Irish Travellers. When the deal falls through, Gorgeous gets into a fight with and is hospitalised by an unintelligible bare-knuckle boxer named Mickey (Brad Pitt). Not wanting to incur Brick Top's wrath, Turkish recruits Mickey for the bout. But Mickey's refusal to abide by Brick Top's strict conditions lands them into more trouble.

Like its predecessor, Snatch features a wide array of characters within the two stories, and tries to develop them as much as it can. Alan Ford is especially good as Brick Top. He may be the antagonist, and is utterly ruthless, but he produces a ton of funny lines. That doesn't detract from his aura of menace though. Who else can say "Goody gumdrops" or "I'm sweet enough" and still sound threatening? His most memorable moment is probably a monologue he gives about the benefits of using pigs to dispose of a body. In fact, his dialogue is so memorable that someone actually made a fan video in which his lines are dubbed over Darth Vader's in Star Wars. To Alan Ford's approval.

Also like its predecessor, the film utilises a lot of black comedy. But I think this one's a little more humorous than the first film. Funny moments include Mickey's dialogue which is so unintelligible, not even the subtitler knows what he's saying. Vinnie and Sol are comically inept, along with their getaway driver Tyrone (Ade). The same goes for Tommy. In fact, I think Turkish is the only character in this film who isn't greedy, crazy, or just plain stupid. Well, Tony is fairly level-headed too.

As for the story, Turkish and Tommy may be the closest thing the film has to protagonists. Similar to the four boys in Lock, Stock, they're not as involved in the story as the rest of the characters. Well, Turkish doesn't really do much other than enter business with Brick Top and then suggests using Mickey as their fighter. That said, Snatch does have a tighter story, with all the most important plot elements making it into the final cut. Speaking of which, I finally saw the deleted scene in Lock, Stock which explained Harry's grudge against JD. Going slightly off-topic here, but the fact that such an important scene was cut from the film was one of that film's major issues. That's something which was rectified in Snatch. The two stories are intertwined really well.

Overall, Snatch is a great film. It's difficult to decide which of the two films is superior. I suppose Snatch does rectify the issues Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels had. But it the same time, it does seem to re-tread the same ground. I like them both though, and they're worth viewing.

Film Review: Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

I've recently discovered a UK-based convention for the Savage Worlds roleplaying system, and one of the games being advertised is Harrison Hunt's Tuffguys, a Guy Ritchie-esque crime story set in London in the 1990s. With this in mind, I decided to take a look at one of the films which inspired the setting; Guy Ritchie's 1998 cinematic debut, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. This sepia-toned caper features a large ensemble cast, and served as breakout role for Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, and Vinnie Jones.

Since it's an ensemble piece, it'll take a bit of explaining.

• We'll start by looking at the four long-time friends who serve as our protagonists:
• Bacon, a laid-back and straightforward street vendor, played by Jason Statham
• Eddy, played by Nick Moran, an optimistic and naive card sharp who acts as Bacon's shill
• Tom, an opportunistic business-minded grocer, played by Jason Flemyng
• Soap, a pessimistic and anxious chef, played by Dexter Fletcher (who's also quite fond of knives)

The friends raise £100,000 so that Eddy can buy into a weekly high-stakes card game run by "Hatchet" Harry Lonsdale, a sex shop owner and loan shark played by P.H. Moriarty. Unfortunately, Harry is holding a grudge against Eddy's father JD (played by Sting), and rigs the tournament so that Eddy and his friends are saddled with a substantial debt and only a week to pay it off.

This is actually where I have my biggest criticism: What is Harry's grudge against JD? I'm assuming that JD had played against Harry and won, investing his winnings in his bar. Harry's debt collector, Big Chris (played by Vinnie Jones), visits JD and suggests that hands the deed to his bar over to Harry. I've heard the director's cut explores this a little more, but I haven't seen it. Having to seek those out doesn't always make for a good story.

Anyway, we've established the main story, now we'll look at the subplots:

• Dog (played by Frank Harper), Eddy and Bacon's next door neighbour and the leader of a ruthless gang of extortionists, is planning to rob a group of chemists who are running a highly lucrative cannabis-growing operation. When Eddy hears about this, he hatches a plan to ambush the gang and steal the cash and drugs.
• Harry's right-hand-man, Barry "The Baptist" (played by Lenny McLean), hires two bumbling Liverpudlians named Dean and Gary to steal a pair of antique shotguns from a bankrupt lord. Instructed to get "everything inside the gun cabinet", they unwittingly sell the two coveted shotguns because they weren't in the cabinet, and are intimidated into bringing them back. The buyer, a fence called "Nick the Greek" (played by Stephen Marcus), sells them to Tom for their heist. He also arranges to sell the stolen drugs to a sociopathic gangster named Rory Breaker (played by Vas Blackwood).

The film tries to develop all the groups of characters, but I fear it does so at the expense of the protagonists. The main thing the four friends do is get saddled with the gambling debt and then rob Dog's crew. After that, most of the conflict is between the other characters. However, this still provides a great climax, and allows the four friends to avoid the worst of the consequences. While their story ends on both a literal and figurative cliffhanger, there are still some plot threads which they could have addressed. The main one is that of Winston, the lead chemist (played by Steven Mackintosh), who recovers the stolen drugs and leaves. It's not stated what happens to him or his housemates after the robbery.

While these are a few minor issues, they're still difficult for me to overlook. But the dialogue and black comedy more than make up for it. There are a ton of quotable lines, such as a monologue by Soap about why knives are superior to guns. It's established that Soap got his name because he likes to keep his hands clean of anything unlawful, so this is a side to him that we haven't seen. And neither have his friends, who become more afraid of him than they are of Dog's crew. Yeah, there's violence, but most of it is implied.

If there's anybody who steals the show, it's Vinnie Jones as Big Chris. I've already stated that he's Harry's debt collector, so you can imagine he's a tough guy (like most of the actor's subsequent roles). But he's also accompanied by his son, Little Chris, whom he deeply cares for (to the point where he scolds people for swearing in front of them). He also seems genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of others (whom he isn't shaking down).

All in all, it's worth a watch. It's been emotional.

Firefly Marathon: Serenity (The Film)

In 2005, after a successful fan campaign, the cast and crew of Firefly re-united with a movie deal from Paramount in order to give the series a more definite conclusion.

Some time has passed since "Objects in Space". Both Inara and Shepherd Book are no longer travelling with Malcolm Reynolds, while the Alliance's relentless pursuit of River Tam has made it harder for them to find work. Mal takes River with the crew as they rob a bank on a frontier world. Unfortunately, the job goes south when the town is attacked by Reavers and the crew barely escape with their lives. Afterwards, Simon announces his desire to leave Serenity with River, but they're reluctantly taken in after they attract the attention of a new foe known only as "The Operative".

As Serenity was made as a sequel to Firefly, watching the series is recommended beforehand. However, it doesn't allude to the events of the series too much. This is handy if you haven't seen the show, but doesn't answer a lot of questions if you have. For example, River was pursued by two men in suits known as "The Hands of Blue" in the show, but they're absent from the film. The Operative fills that role here. Now, I know there was a comic which filled the gaps, but I haven't read it. As a general rule, requiring knowledge of past events doesn't always make for a good story.

Unanswered questions aside, it's still great to see the crew of Serenity reunited. Speaking as someone who did watch the show, it's also a great build-up to the Reaver plot thread. The Reavers never actually made an appearance in the show. There was an encounter with a Reaver ship which the crew narrowly escapes from, and there was another episode dealing with the aftermath of a Reaver attack, but it mostly the mention of the name which instilled a sense of dread in people. In the film, they finally show up in force.

Mal is also shown to be a lot more ruthless in the film. Yeah, he wasn't the most heroic figure in the show, but here he doesn't hesitate to shoot a man who has just been seized by Reavers, shoots The Operative when he tries to parley, and later executes an Alliance soldier who tries to surrender. This could make it harder for newer audiences to root for him.

If there's anyone who does steal the show, it's The Operative. He's methodical and ruthless, but he's also well-spoken. As stated above, he does try and negotiate if he can, but he becomes a force to be reckoned with if he can't.

Whether you watched the show or not, the finely-crafted witty dialogue is still there. My favourite conversation is probably when the Operative visits Inara, who agrees to contact Mal with a job offer. Mal realises it's a trap right away. And the rest of the crew - who had been listening in on the conversation - are convinced when they realised Mal and Inara weren't bickering.

Well, that about wraps it up. Happy New Year, if I haven't said it already, and Happy Writing.

Firefly Marathon: Wrap-up

Well, I've come to the end of the TV series, and I'll review the film later.

Short-lived as it was, I think that Firefly is a great show. I love the dynamic between the characters, and they all seem realistic and believable, plus they produce tons of memorable dialogue. I love the imagination behind the world-building, with the blending of Western and Eastern cultures within the Old West aesthetic. I also love the independence themes, and the notion of living away from conventional society and out of the government's reach. In recent months, this has been something which rings true for me.

I think my top five episodes are as follows:

5) Shindig - I love the "fish out of water" element, and the sword fight between Mal and Atherton
4) Out of Gas - I love how it shows the characters at their bleakest, and how this is interspersed by flashbacks of how they joined the crew
3) The Message - Another one with poignant moments, along with some great humour and badass moments from the crew
2) Trash - A great caper story with interesting twists and humour
1) Jaynestown - One of the funniest episodes, but the situation also gets pretty deep at times

That's about it. Watch this space for my review of Serenity, but for now I'll end on a song.

Keep flying.