Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Reviews

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. Back in those days, Guy Ritchie was hailed as the next best thing but, unfortunately, I'm afraid he never really fulfilled my expectations even if he always had a steady career. Anyway, this movie was his directing debut but even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, I tend to think it is actually rather overrated. The point is that it is so similar in tone and style to 'Snatch', Ritchie's only true masterpiece, that I tend to be rather dismissive towards his first directing effort. Basically, in my opinion, 'Lock, Stock...' was merely a warm-up, a nice one definitely, but still just a warm-up and not much more than that. Still, it is a fun movie though, no doubt about it. Back then, Jason Statham was not yet one of the biggest action stars in the world and, instead, he played a street-wise smart ass but it was much more interesting than the usual tough guys he plays nowadays. Concerning the plot, it was not bad and entertaining enough but the main assets in this movie were all these colorful characters and the actually sophisticated dialogues full of British street slang. The funny thing with this movie when you watch it after all these years is that it actually does look pretty cheap with its ugly yellow filter which they apparently they never managed to remove, especially if you would compare this movie to Ritchie's more recent work. Anyway, to conclude, even though I still don't think it deserves its spot on the IMDb top 250, I have to admit it is still a fun and entertaining crime comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

The British try their hand at imitating some of the Tarantinoisms of Pulp Fiction. Or maybe Reservoir Dogs. I dunno. But what I do know is the way that my smile tends to crook as a result of listening to the way Lock Stock's script manages to continually weave up, down & sideways to finally coalesce into an English flavored "duck soup", full of chunky bits of quips, guns & sometimes-almost-hard-to-decipher-yet-humuorously-satisfying East End slang. This film proves that despite their pasty skin pigment, drab skies & even drabbier food, even the English can have style.
Not to mention that among the vast cast is included a small but solid bite-strewn & really cool role for Sting (the former Police-man, not the clown-faced wrestler .....you buncha nerds). The singer who, after filming was done, supposedly was responsible for introducing the director of this flick to Madonna.
Which later would result in a relationship 'tween said director & material girl.
Which later would result in marriage.
Which later would then result in the movie Swept Away.
Which later would then result in the conclusion that Sting needs to learn to mind his own business.

This IS entertainment in itself. The one word I can use to describe this film the best is 'entertaining'. And it is, it's up there in the best British comedies and because I can't say I’ve seen many; this along with 'Snatch' are easily my favorites.

I don't think it would be possible to watch this movie and not laugh. There's a joke all the time, some more obvious than others. I have to say that I prefer the movie 'Snatch' to this, just because I seemed to enjoy it a bit more and probably laughed the most I have for ages when I watched it. I think I also liked the selection of actors in 'Snatch', this film sort of introduces some of the characters and 'Snatch' brings in even more.

I loved the directing style; two thumbs way up to Guy Ritchie. The Screenplay was brilliant, I loved how each character had their own story and somehow they all came together. The humor was definitely the type that I like in a film. The little things I noticed really cracked me up, simple stuff like facial expressions were great.

I really liked Jason Statham's character as well as Vinnie Jones. The acting was priceless and the cast were brilliant. It was like they all fitted in perfectly with their character.. like they all had a bit of them in themselves.

My point of this review: for anyone who hasn't already to see this. An explosive comedy that you'll love from the moment it starts until the very end.