Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerFirst off, I am a huge Guy Ritchie fan. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and Sherlock Holmes are amazing films. If you have seen Snatch or Lock and Stock, you have already seen this film. But Guy Ritchie thrives in British crime story's and tells the story so easily. The story is complex, has great characters, and a great ending. The only downside to the story is it can be hard to follow and there are a lot of characters.The acting is great. Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Jeremy Piven, Ludacris, and Toby Kebbell all perform great. Gerard Butler and Mark Strong deliver the best performances.The pacing is very fast and this can make the film hard to follow. The runtime is also a little overlong.Pros: Great British crime story, interesting characters, fast pacing, great acting, and mazing performances by Gerard Butler and Mark StrongCons: The story can be confusing because it is so complex, the pacing is also very fast which can also lead to confusion, an overlong runtime, and there are a lot of characters which can lead to further confusionOverall Rating: 8.1

It's not that I don't appreciate some of the work of Guy Ritchie. He had a nice start with Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. And both Sherlock Holmes movies present an interesting twist on a famous character. Although I suspect the latter is more due to Robert Downey Jr.'s immense talent. Problem is, when he did Lock Stock..., it seemed like a harmless comedy. A bit of fun and capers at the expense of what Guy assumes is the "gangster lifestyle". After watching RockNRolla, you begin to suspect that this guy secretly wishes to have an army of Vinnie Joneses and Mark Strongs roughing up anyone who dares stand in his path of domination.All the ingredients are in place. You have the old time cockney crime boss, played by Tom Wilkinson, and his trusted right hand man and enforcer, played by Mark Strong. You have Gerard Butler, Idris Elba and Tom Hardy as the small time crooks who call themselves The Wild Bunch. You have a Russian businessman/gangster wanting to invest in London property, and has no qualms in showing guys like Wilkinson that times have changed, and that they are no match for those yielding his type of power and money. Add a junkie rock and roll star (Toby Kebbell), playing another anachronistic Guy Ritchie fantasy. The Russians' accountant (Thandie Newton) who backstabs him thanks to her connections to The Wild Bunch, some enforcers, two American music promoters, and all you have to do is shake, stir them all together somehow, and you have another cocktail of "hilarious consequences", and someone's idea of glamorous/ruthless crime life ready to serve.Sure, there is a plot involving a stolen painting. And a final twist where it turns out Tom Wilkinson is a police informer, resulting in death by crayfish at the hands of Mark Strong. But it all seems to take a backseat to a lot of jump cuts, exposition, violence, and attempts at humorous, witty quips. The people we care about don't get that honor because we like the cartoonish characters. Just cause we like the actors. Mark Strong is a menacing, strong presence, like he was in the first Sherlock Holmes. And Idris Elba is genuine class. Other than that, there are too many clichés, like Wilkinson. And Gerard Butler is a Poseur of the highest order (of course he has a sex scene with Newton that you can spot a mile away). Not to mention Toby Kebbell, as an insufferable, self-obsessed, profound statement spouting brat, who needed his tongue ripped out with red hot pliers.In the end, you might think there is a hidden sub-plot/morality tale about criminal money being used to hike up the price of properties in London, and pricing other residents out. Or you would, if that was given more than 30 seconds at the start of the film. What you end up getting is a glimpse into someone else's adolescent fascination. Which, frankly, could do with a little dose of subtlety, taste, and proper characterization.

This movie actually turned out to be better than I had anticipated. I initially picked up this movie because of Gerard Butler stars in it.While the story does seem a bit confusing at first, give it some time to sink in. It was actually an interesting story, especially as it was the same story just told from different sides of the table, so to speak.I can't claim to be overly familiar with the work of Guy Ritchie, although I do know of him by his name. I found "RocknRolla" to be a well-directed movie.The cast in "RocknRolla" is rather good and people really performed quite well in their individual roles, each one adding their own spice and flavor to the movie.It was nice to see a movie of this type which wasn't just all gunfights and brawling. So a big thumbs up to Guy Ritchie for his achievement with "RocknRolla"."RocknRolla" is well-worth watching, and the 115 minutes it runs for just fly by so quickly because you get sucked up into the movie right from the very beginning, and yes, it is that entertaining.

You buy a bottle of Guinness, a bar or Lindt dark chocolate or you boil yourself and egg and eat it on toast and you're not going to get many surprises, you'll get what you paid for but you'll enjoy then just the same. Guy Ritchies's gangster films are just like that: you know what you're in for and there ain't a single surprise, but you enjoy them just the same. Ritchie has his formula and it's a winner.When, in the past he's strayed from that formula, he's ended up with egg on his face, so he's best off sticking to his formula: a convoluted plot, a set of stereotypical London gangster, loads of witty one-liners, and all of it presented in a fast-cut style and two hours later you rise from your seat sufficiently entertained. That's it.Ritchie is never going to win an Oscar, never going to gain kudos from 'cineastes', but as long as he delivers the goods - and sticks to his formula - he'll always have an audience. That's it really.