Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1999)

A Disappointing Continuation

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

At the point when this film initially began it felt dry like numerous British movies. Anyway as it went on the more I got into it until the point that the end credits rolled and I was overwhelmed. I never anticipated that would like this film to such an extent. It's a genuine lumpy, wrongdoing satire? It's actually difficult to put this film into a specific kind since it truly does its own thing and advantages from that.

I was finally introduced to this film in March of this year by a friend, alongside it's successor film, Snatch. Since then I've viewed the film a total of three times, and I've finally come to point of being able to a compile a critical review. I've taken time to handle it properly, as this is understandably a cult classic and has warranted a lot of good reviews.I believe that Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a charming movie that achieves a lot despite it's low budget. It contains standout performances and creative cinematography at times, but holds it's failings in both of those departments as well. The movies' strongest attributes are it's tone, plot and pacing, and doesn't actually contain too many issues aside from sound design and one or two plot holes. Overall, I think Lock, Stock is one of the best British comedies I've seen in a while.There are numerous other little issues I also took up with the film, but a great deal of them owed largely to the films low budget. On that note, a lot of the effects and visuals that would disappoint on a higher budget actually work impressively considering the films constraints on money. Considering the debatable aspects surrounding criticizing budgeted effects, I'll opt to leave those criticisms out of my review.Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was produced in 1998 but largely defies time period in it's cinematography and design. It's rustic color palette and noticeable film grain place it more often in the era of the 1970s. But Cinematography in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in general is a hit and miss. The film contains some amazing sequences, especially during action scenes and the infamous card game which sets off the entire plot. This is excellent, as the parts of the movie that seriously matter are almost all given a good level of film quality, but the same cannot be said for the scenes in between. Conversations between characters, especially those with shots that go back and forth are at best unoriginal and at worst so awkward that they can detract from the largely superb writing. And with dialogue being a supreme feature in this film (might I mention since it is especially lacking in visual storytelling), not having the cinematographic quality to go hand it hand with the quips often leaves me wanting.Speaking of dialogue, the films plot and script are the greatest aspect it has to offer. At no point in the film does the consistent back and forth between the ensemble cast end or lose it's magic. It's no surprise that the film is ranked as one of the most quotable films to come out of Britain's comedy market. The plot, for the most part, is an easy to understand but still complex web of connecting lines bringing the entire set of characters together through a special and sometimes dubious set of circumstances. It's a rather fun joy ride to sit through and track even through multiple viewings, and even by my third viewing, there were small details in both dialogue and occasionally visual cues that I missed out on. The film also doesn't hold the viewers hand too much, despite an admittedly helpful narration, and plot points that can confound first time viewers are always smoothly resolved by the end of the film. The characters themselves are unique and often relatable, despite being brought down by amateur acting skills at times. They're written with a decent degree of complexity and some little details I only noticed, once again, in re-watches.But on the note of characters and their actors, the acting in this film is much like cinematography as it quite often hits and misses, but on a much more prevalent scale than the former. While the film no doubt contains some all star performances, it is quite often brought down by stale delivery by unemotional actors as well. Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones and Steve Mackintosh all add to the film with great performances, and give the movie a good backbone despite the lacking work from actors with more screen time like Nick Moran and Lenny McLean. Overall the bad performances in the film are largely put in the shade by the aforementioned writing skills of Guy Ritchie. I'm not an expert of music so I haven't take the time to check out the movies soundtrack but nonetheless it is certainly well put together. I found that they were very suitable for the movies subject matter and blended well with the overall finished product. This, however, was brought down by the small issue of sound design in weapons and environments.Some of the other things I enjoyed before concluding: The pace is great, lighting is great and visual effects are notably decent for what they were. One more thing I didn't enjoy is the occasional plot points scattered about, but none are serious enough to hurt my rating.In summary, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is an entertaining crime comedy that accomplishes quite a lot despite it's budget. While it is damaged by acting, cinematography, sound design and plot holes, none of these things are significant enough to damage the overall experience too much. Through multiple watches I found that there was things that I only noticed later on, along with the fact that the comedy still holds strong no matter how many times you ingest the quips. Watch out for my review of Snatch, coming soon. I'm happy leaving the movie with an 8/10.

Bacon, Soap and the guys have a plan. All 4 will put up 25K for a 100k high stakes poker game and make it rich, split the winnings. When Harry, cheats in the game the gang finds themselves oweing him half a million. Their neighbors are crooks and going to knock off some drug dealers. The gang decides they will rob the bad guys to get the money to pay Harry. Seems like a simple plan, and then things start to go wrong. A really good movie. One of Stathem's earlier flicks in which he actually doesn't fight. The movie starts out with 4 story lines that seem separate but then are all interlinked come the movie's end. It has some comedic moments mixed in too. The best part is the ending. It is kind of a choose your own adventure ending where they leave you just enough to decide how you want it to end of the gang. If you have not seen it and you enjoy Pulp Fiction type movies you will enjoy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

This movie is quirky, original, ground-breaking and quite simply, beautiful.The film's unique camera-work and editing was refreshing and can't really be compared to other films. From suspenseful close-ups to action-filled tilts and jolts.The characters are relatable with their own unique characteristics. Not stripping away from the raw, varying accents, it brings a realism to the movie and therefor more accepting.The story is unpredictable with action-filled twists around every corner loaded with appropriate humour and memorable quotes. This movie is a must see for anyone of age.