RocknRolla

Verdict

:

Laddish fun, but the same old Ritchie

Guy Ritchie's private life may be in tatters, but his directing career is nudged back on track as he returns to what he does best - rehashing his popular work from the late 90s.

Much like Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), RocknRolla is another laddish, Cockney mobster caper featuring an ensemble cast of undesirable characters, a cool soundtrack and plenty of twists and turns. It's just meant to be good fun, and it is, so you can forgive it for being instantly gratifying and immediately forgettable.

The script, written by Ritchie, is based around a dodgy real estate deal between London Mob boss Lenny Cole (Wilkinson) and Russian multimillionaire Uri (Karel Roden). The deal goes wrong thanks to the interference of bored accountant Stella (Newton), crack-addicted rock star Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell), and a couple of oddly named two-bit hustlers called One Two (Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba).

Throw in a few more "Rocknrollas", which the film's convoluted introductory narration explains is another word for "geezer" or "mobster", and you've got an action-packed and violence-splattered spectacle.

Shot on various film speeds, visually RocknRolla is a collection of fast-paced cuts, slow motion shots, gritty realism and special effects sequences that create mini music video-like sequences throughout.

The soundtrack (featuring The Clash, The Hives and Lou Reed) has been turned up extra loud and helps keep the momentum going, but even with all this stylisation RocknRolla is still a second-rate cousin to Ritchie's earlier work.

The characters are simply observed caricatures; what you see is what you get. The humour is sharp but becomes trying with its homo-centric overtones, and the plot becomes thinner the longer it takes to wrap up the story.

Ritchie proves he can still throw together a cool, sexy looking film, but he's also starting to look very much like a one-trick pony.

- Francesca Rudkin

Cast

: Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton

Director

: Guy Ritchie

Running Time

: 114 mins

Rating

: R16 (violence, offensive language, drug use)

Screening

: SkyCity, Hoyts, Berkeley Cinemas