Review of Snatch (2000) by Iamtech — 18 Jun 2016

'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 2' could be its real name, Ritchie is back with the second in his British gangster trilogy ('Revolver' being number three) and this time due to the success of his first venture he clearly has more money to play with so he brings in some big name stars.

The film is almost the same kind of thing to 'Lock Stock' being another gritty, dirty, slimy cockney collaboration of tales all revolving around yet more oddball wheeler dealers, thugs and gangsters as they all try to get ahold of money, jewels and each other in (again) a Tarantino type way with more gallows humour. The cast again is fantastic and includes yet more British actors that were somehow left out of the first film, over Ritchie's films he's used every known British character actor or soap star we have. The inclusion of some big Hollywood stars actually, for me, brings the film down slightly, they don't seem realistic and can't fit into this exclusively British world thus the film loses its sense of realism, a big Hollywood star doesn't always equal a good direction to go.

To be frank the film does really have a R. Rodriguez feel to it eg. 'Mariachi' was made, it did well so RR remade it bigger and better. 'Snatch' does seem to fall into that category to a degree, it does feel almost like a reboot or upgrade of 'Lock Stock' as some of the cast that do show up in both films are playing the same kind of role, mainly Vinnie Jones who can't really play anything else. The film has the exact same grotty feel to it with your typical South/East London looking pubs, alleys and streets, more cockney dialect to confuse any non-Londoner, more hints at vicious violence but without actually showing that much, some glorious fights and more swearing than you can possibly imagine.

The only thing I don't like about the film is all the silly names everyone has, I just get the feeling Ritchie was trying too hard to make it in the same vain as American New York gangsters, your typical hood with his catchy nickname like Billy the rat or pool table Pauly for example, it just seemed a bit daft. Basically this is another triumph for Ritchie despite making the same film all over again. Alan Fords portrayal of Brick Top is also probably the most chilling baddie I've seen in years.