Thank God! That was my first reaction after seeing Rocknrolla, the new movie from Guy Ritchie. After struggling to maintain the success of Snatch, Ritchie fell into a funk, directing two superbombs that seemed to indicate his flashy style was simply a flash in the pan. Swept Away and Revolver were so dreadful, they barely got a release in the United States, and Revolver even starred everyone’s favorite man-crush, Jason Statham! So you can imagine my fear walking into his latest effort. But rest assured, nerds, RocknRolla is a solid effort and proof that Ritchie can be relevant again.

Trying to explain this movie would hurt my brain and my fingers. I can just call it a Guy Ritchie movie, and you could probably figure out what the plot is. Essentially, it’s low level criminals working to get their share against a wealthy kingpin. There are coincidences, plot twists, and a subplot involving a Russian and a painting. It takes about a half hour for the movie to get on track, simply because there’s so much to explain before we get into the story. It’s tedious at first, trying to sort out what each character does and why they’ll be essential to the story, but it’s worth getting through. The main character and narrator is Archie, a steady, likable character despite being the assistant for the underworld crime boss. I really liked the performance of Mark Strong, who plays Archie as an intelligent, fiercely loyal person with a mean backhand slap. Gerard Butler subs for the usual Jason Statham character in this movie, and he does an adequate job. His character is pretty thin, but he’s engaging and stable enough to enhance the wacky characters around him. Plus, he has several scenes where he dances, and they’re all funny.

As with every Guy Ritchie movie, violence and comedy go hand in hand. Rocknrolla is notable for an extended robbery/chase scene that seems to go on forever, but never feels dull. At one point, One Two is escaping a pissed-off, indestructible Russian on foot and they’re too exhausted to even break into a sprint. When the Russian falls to his knees, out of energy, One Two double backs and slaps him in the face, just for kicks. His enjoyment is ruined when a second, equally tired Russian shows up to continue the low speed pursuit. And even when you think it’s over, it just keeps going, piling on amusing gimmicks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a slow foot chase on film, and never realized how entertaining it would be.

I also like how the title Rocknrolla doesn’t really make sense until things become more clear. The kingpin has a junkie rock star son who fakes his own death to sell more albums and do more drugs. That seems to be the extent of his story until he comes into possession of a painting that sends him on a crash course with his estranged father and ultimately ties every character together. It’s refreshing to see this cardboard character expand before your eyes and add an unexpected element to the proceedings. In fact, there are a lot of characters who are full of surprises, and part of Rocknrolla’s strength is revealing them at opportune moments.

Chances are you won’t catch Rocknrolla in theaters, as it had a limited release, but I definitely recommend picking it up on DVD if you were a fan of Lock Stock and Snatch. The formula hasn’t changed, but Guy Ritchie has toned down his more overstylized elements and delivered a solid crime tale with some really funny moments.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 10:29 am and is filed under Film, Editorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Thank God! That was my first reaction after seeing Rocknrolla, the new movie from Guy Ritchie. After struggling to maintain the success of Snatch, Ritchie fell into a funk, directing two superbombs that seemed to indicate his flashy style was simply a flash in the pan. Swept Away and Revolver were so dreadful, they barely got a release in the United States, and Revolver even starred everyone’s favorite man-crush, Jason Statham! So you can imagine my fear walking into his latest effort. But rest assured, nerds, RocknRolla is a solid effort and proof that Ritchie can be relevant again.

Trying to explain this movie would hurt my brain and my fingers. I can just call it a Guy Ritchie movie, and you could probably figure out what the plot is. Essentially, it’s low level criminals working to get their share against a wealthy kingpin. There are coincidences, plot twists, and a subplot involving a Russian and a painting. It takes about a half hour for the movie to get on track, simply because there’s so much to explain before we get into the story. It’s tedious at first, trying to sort out what each character does and why they’ll be essential to the story, but it’s worth getting through. The main character and narrator is Archie, a steady, likable character despite being the assistant for the underworld crime boss. I really liked the performance of Mark Strong, who plays Archie as an intelligent, fiercely loyal person with a mean backhand slap. Gerard Butler subs for the usual Jason Statham character in this movie, and he does an adequate job. His character is pretty thin, but he’s engaging and stable enough to enhance the wacky characters around him. Plus, he has several scenes where he dances, and they’re all funny.

As with every Guy Ritchie movie, violence and comedy go hand in hand. Rocknrolla is notable for an extended robbery/chase scene that seems to go on forever, but never feels dull. At one point, One Two is escaping a pissed-off, indestructible Russian on foot and they’re too exhausted to even break into a sprint. When the Russian falls to his knees, out of energy, One Two double backs and slaps him in the face, just for kicks. His enjoyment is ruined when a second, equally tired Russian shows up to continue the low speed pursuit. And even when you think it’s over, it just keeps going, piling on amusing gimmicks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a slow foot chase on film, and never realized how entertaining it would be.

I also like how the title Rocknrolla doesn’t really make sense until things become more clear. The kingpin has a junkie rock star son who fakes his own death to sell more albums and do more drugs. That seems to be the extent of his story until he comes into possession of a painting that sends him on a crash course with his estranged father and ultimately ties every character together. It’s refreshing to see this cardboard character expand before your eyes and add an unexpected element to the proceedings. In fact, there are a lot of characters who are full of surprises, and part of Rocknrolla’s strength is revealing them at opportune moments.

Chances are you won’t catch Rocknrolla in theaters, as it had a limited release, but I definitely recommend picking it up on DVD if you were a fan of Lock Stock and Snatch. The formula hasn’t changed, but Guy Ritchie has toned down his more overstylized elements and delivered a solid crime tale with some really funny moments.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 10:29 am and is filed under Film, Editorial. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.