5 out of 5

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

While the opening always feels like it’s trying a dash too much and Benicio del Toro’s accent is almost uncomfortably bad, the former plays like a quick review of Lock, Stock’s campier style before kissing it goodbye for the much more solid, serious, and seamless Snatch, and the latter is given, thankfully, minimal screentime. There will, undoubtedly, be a bit of deja vu if watching this and Ritchie’s previous caper flick back-to-back, as so many elements carry over – wise-cracking leads who just want to make some dosh but inadvertently get in over their heads, several storylines which start miles apart but end up being intertwined, off-screen bursts of violence, Vinnie Jones as an enforcer, a mobster everyone is scared of… but that’s fine, because though the pieces match, Guy plays this game totally differently. “Lock” was absolutely an assured piece of filmmaking, but it suffered a bit from having too much fun and forgetting to make everything matter. “Snatch” dips into dreadfully serious for a moment rather quickly, but outside of that, focusing on two main characters instead of 4 and not getting tricksy with the voiceover (it’s the character we’re following instead of a peripheral) makes Statham’s “Turkish” much more personable and real, and though the story still hiccups allover the place, it follows a more logical A to B to C than just throwing the alphabet down in the hopes of picking it back up later. The music and editing style have also grown a sense of responsibility, slow-mo, pop music and Guy’s commercial background totes in tow, but used for emphasis instead of just knob-twiddling. “Lock” is a great ride when first scene, but loses some glamor upon repeated views, whereas “Snatch” just revels in how sharp it is, just old and wise enough to keep on its feet for the whole 1.5ish hour but not so brash to forget, this time around, to tell a tale that survives being stripped off blitz editing and cool soundtrack mixing.