Director: Guy Ritchie.
Starring: Gerald Bulter, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Mark Strong, Toby Kebbell, Jeremy Piven, Ludacris, Karel Roden.
This film is one of Guy Ritchie's finest but possibly the most overlooked of his catalogue and I think that's because of the bad reception his film, Revolver got back in 2005. I think viewers were expecting another Snatch or Lock,Stock but got something slightly different and not the usual Guy Ritchie film were accustomed to. In all fairness, forgetting it's Guy Ritchie at the helm and you'll find it's a good movie.
Three years later and RocknRolla gets released bragging a massive cast of stars who are now all major players, with the trademark silly nicknames us Londoners seem to cherish banishing the real names as secret identities or alter egos.
Gerald Butler as One Two, Idris Elba as Mumbles and Tom Hardy as Handsome Bob make the core of the criminal gang better known as the Wild Bunch. This film is how Tom Hardy got the part for Christopher Nolan's Inception. Tom Wilkinson is awesome as the 'bricks and mortar' real-estate crooked businessman with charismatic heavy, Mark Strong at his side as Archie. Toby Kebbell playing 'The' RocknRolla Johnny Quid, is nothing short of amazing, showing his ferocious talent and gives one of the best analogies, being about life and a pack of cigarettes.
Other stars getting involved are Ludacris (ironically casted under his real name Chris Bridges) Jeremy Piven, Thandie Newton, Gemma Arterton, Matt King and Geoff Bell. It also boasts an excellent soundtrack with classic tracks from Black Strobe, The Sonics and even had the Subways perform 'Rock and Roll Queen' live in the film.
Typically of Guy Ritchie films, the plot gets convoluted, everyone being somehow connected to each other, or clashing somehow, setting off a chain of events with ironic black humour and a painting that we never see, as a kind of Marcellus Wallace centre piece to the film.
Has a great, fast talking script loaded with the usual witty comebacks expected from a Ritchie film and classic scenes like the second money heist that goes horribly wrong leading our antiheroes being chased by crazy Russians and the grand finale with the fight in the lift.
It's sleek, it's cool, it's dark, it's funny, but not in the Lock, Stock, Snatch kinda funny; but is one of Guy Ritchie's best. It's beautifully put together, filmed and edit with a faint sepia tone which almost makes the film tainted by tobacco smoke. There's a hint of it being the first part of a trilogy but there's no sign anywhere that the real RocknRolla and the wild bunch will return. PLEASE MR. RITCHIE! Can we have the rest!? Why you tease us?
I'll leave you with the analogy that is spoken so eloquently well by Johnny Quid AKA the RocknRolla, Toby Kebbell.
"All you need to know about life is retained in those four walls. You will notice that one of your personalities is seduced by the illusions of grandeur: the gold packet of king-size with a regal insignia, an attractive implication towards glamour and wealth, the subtle suggestion that cigarettes are indeed your royal and loyal friends - and that, Pete, is a lie. Your other personality is trying to draw your attention to the flip side of the discussion: written in boring bold black and white, it's a statement that these neat little soldiers of death are in fact trying to kill you - and that, Pete, is the truth. Oh, beauty is a beguiling call to death and I'm addicted to the sweet pitch of its siren. That that starts sweet ends bitter, and that which starts bitter ends sweet. THAT is why you and I love the drugs and that is also why I cannot give that painting back. Now please, pass me a light."
Running Time: 9
The Cast: 9
Performance: 9
Direction: 10
Story: 9
Script: 10
Creativity: 10
Soundtrack: 10
Job Description: 9
The Extra Bonus Point: 10 for a perfect blend of of black humour and blunt action, amazing script and great soundtrack.
95% 10/10
