MOVIE REVIEW – Guy Ritchie, the former director of such phenomena as Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch – and later of mediocre or often even inferior films – is returning to a genre he once had failed already: the spy thriller. Once again starring Jason Statham, who since Lock, Stock has become a true action star, the nature and tone of the film were largely predictable. Unfortunately, I wasn’t pleasantly disappointed by the press screening…

It would be a bit of a cheeky analogy to say that Guy Ritchie shot all the powder with two smoking gun barrels, but the fact is that after the equally brilliant Snatch, the quality of his films started to decline. Whatever subject matter he tackled, he was always trying to assert himself with his own increasingly repetitive style, while with his latest – also very mediocre – Gentlemen, he even reverted to the crime genre.

The Usual Suspects

This is both a spy thriller and a crime movie, with the usual stars, as the lead is the irrepressible Jason Statham, now 55, and the other major role is played by Hugh Grant, who plays the same type of character as in Ritchie’s two previous films, The Gentlemen and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Finally, among the stars, we must mention Josh Hartnett, who plays a movie star who is forced to take part in the operation of Statham’s government-appointed spy gang, and on the ladies’ side, Aubrey Plaza, a sassy, funny female agent with a swaggering tongue.

“I’m a simple guy. I see Jason Statham, I watch” (YouTube commentary by unknown poet)

Paradoxically, with the actors, I may have said all the film’s positives because the aforementioned stars do their part. Jason Statham is as loose, tough and stoic as only Jason Statham can be and, yet his action scenes still kicks ass.

I read the YouTube comment above under the trailer of the film (and laughed out loud at it), because that’s exactly why this film is entertaining. Hugh Grant also seems to have come over from the previous two films, and Josh Hartnett, who is sadly rather neglected these days, is still great in his role, but that’s only because of him, because the complexity of his one-act character is about on par with Mortal Kombat’s Johnny Cage.

Ritchie has lost its way

Ritchie has somehow lost (perhaps during his marriage to Madonna) what made his films work so well. Even though his stars do their obligatory part, traces of his former laid-back and cool style are now just an empty shell, sorely lacking the quality, the really twisty, really witty story, the insanely good soundtrack, the jokes and characters of Snatch, and the truly original and colorful characters of Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels. What’s left is only an enjoyable but strongly mediocre spy thriller action movie. And it’s a shame.

-BadSector-