Review of RocknRolla (2008) by Skylar C — 14 Sep 2011

A stunning failure from Guy Ritchie, RocknRolla is inconsistent but mostly sticks to being bad. It features some undeniably stylish direction, a few entertaining scenes (the chase scene after the second robbery was probably the high point of the film), and a handful of good performances from the likes of Butler, Elba, Strong and Hardy, but mostly wastes them with a lazy script full of cheap jokes and devoid of any of the wacky charm that made Snatch and Lock Stock the successes they were.

Add in the same tired old stereotypes that Guy Ritchie applied to his previous movies (big intimidating rich guy who gets what he wants through brute force, group of woefully inept criminals who somehow come out on top, immensely skilled hitman/fighter that no one can top), but doesn't bother to make them feel like anything but loose outlines of characters, resulting in what feels like an amateurish copy of his early work.