After the success of 1998’s ‘Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels’ Guy Ritchie’s films have constantly been trying to rediscover that winning formula, without much success. If anything, it’s earned him a bad reputation as a director who, while constantly trying to recreate former success, ultimately flops every time. Hopefully 2008’s ‘RocknRolla’ would rekindle some of the old flair, and restore Ritchie’s ever flickering dignity as a director.
RocknRolla’s plot could easily be misinterpreted as Guy Ritchie’s personal two-fingered salute to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Essentially, a Russian business and property tycoon arrives in London, and is progressively fucked over by everyone in the city who has any previous experience in fucking people over. There are various sub plots revolving around paintings, junkies and, bizarrely, American Crayfish, all connecting to the Russian in one way or another. The plot as a whole is so disjointed and nonsensical that you’re probably best just switching off and enjoying the comedy and violence. Yes, it may be shallow, but what man doesn’t love tits and guns?
The films characters are hardly the deepest bunch, they’re merely variations of one asshole. But, for a reason that completely evades me, they’re engaging. I didn’t like any of the characters and I certainly couldn’t relate to any of them (apparently I’m the only variation of asshole that wasn’t worth including), but somehow each one had me completely hooked. As far as I’m concerned that’s a damn impressive feat by any director’s standards. The characters are portrayed solidly by the cast which, I should add, has been selected brilliantly. Honestly, I can’t think of many that would have been suited better to the roles than the crop Ritchie has chosen.
Action has always been an important element in Ritchie’s films, and RocknRolla is no different. The usual guns, knives, and fists all play their part, as well as golf clubs and a very sharp pencil. I’m not kidding, someone gets slashed up with a pencil, it's awesome. While RocknRolla hardly raises the bar for violence, it’s still an incredibly gritty experience, and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
At a glance, RocknRolla’s soundtrack is an uninspiring, generic selection of average rock tracks. But in the film, each one works perfectly with the scene. Once again Ritchie has nailed the soundtrack, integrating what would otherwise be a throwaway score perfectly with the visuals.
RocknRolla, while being unoriginal and shallow, is still a damn entertaining watch, and I genuinely enjoyed it. The dark humour and gritty violence really worked for me, and definitely whetted my appetite for the upcoming sequel ‘The Real RocknRolla’. If you’re a fan of Guy Ritchie, or just like a bit of violence, check this one out, because I doubt it will disappoint.
3/5
See the trailer here.
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