Spotlight on the following works of Guy Ritchie:
Revolver (2005)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
The Gentleman (2019)
The Gentlemen (TV Series, 2024) – Season 1
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
In the Grey (2026)
Guy Ritchie made a fascinating double impact with his
stellar feature debut Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and
the even more impressive Snatch (2000) two years later. Just with
these two features, he became a director to watch. Except, for some reason, I
stopped watching. He did continue to make offscreen news through his marriage
to Madonna and their onscreen collaboration in Swept Away (2002),
a film that didn’t sweep any critics away. Their marriage ended in 2008 but
Ritchie never stopped making films or TV series, with his name
attached to a diverse range of films from Sherlock Homes (2009)
to King Arthur (2017) to Aladdin (2019). And
somewhere along the way, he managed to channel the sentiment of his first two
features with a variety of Gentlemen/Gentleman titled works. It is those works
that reintroduced me to Ritchie again and gave the idea for this mini spotlight
to catch up with those films that I missed.
The early Jason Statham days
Jason Statham made his acting debut in Ritchie’s feature debut
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and two united for Snatch,
where Statham’s role as Turkish caught the eye. After Snatch,
Statham started his transformation into the action star we know today. By the
time, Statham reunited with Ritchie for Revolver (2005), he
already had two leading roles in Transporter and Transporter
2 under his belt along with sizable roles in a few Hollywood films
including The Italian Job (2003).
Revolver is set inside the gang world that Guy
Ritchie started his career with and features the smooth-talking dialogue that
has became the director’s signature style. However, the film doesn’t have a
consistent style like Ritchie’s first two films. The film is a combination of flashbacks,
action sequences (some notable), philosophical dialogues and feint of hand tricks
that never add up to a coherent whole. That is disappointing considering there
are some noteworthy actors in the film such as Ray Liotta, Vicent Pastore and
Luc Besson co-wrote this film.
Any critical disappointment with this film didn’t have any impact
on either Statham or Ritchie. Jason Statham went on to become a bonafide action
star (one can see shades of his subsequent role in Crank present
in Revolver) while Guy Ritchie got bigger budget Hollywood films.
Sherlock Holmes but not the one you read
Guy Ritchie adapting Sherlock Holmes was never going to be straight
forward. However, I still didn’t expect that Richie would turn the detective into
a fighting machine. The keen observation and deduction skills of Sherlock are
turned into valuable pieces of info that allows Sherlock (Robert Downey Jr.) to
take down men much larger than him. Dr. Watson (Jude Law) also gets a makeover a
steady gun shooter plus he can also fight. Together, they are a fearsome duo
who not only solve cases but can beat up any thugs and leave the police to
round up the wounded criminals.
Sherlock Holmes (2009) and its sequel A Game
of Shadows (2011) depict Victorian England as a place of thugs,
criminals, scheming politicians, magic, a touch of supernatural which means the
films are an extension of Guy Ritchie’s cinematic world. Slo-mo camera
movements are present, mostly to explain how Sherlock will take down his
opponents because when the action takes place, it is too fast for our eyes to
register. This tactic is interesting the first few times but wears thin over the
course of the two films. The are explosions in the films as one would expect
from a Hollywood film and plenty of action sequences, fights and murder. Professor
Moriarty (Jared Harris) is naturally present (only in second film) as is Irene
Adler (Rachel McAdams) and Mary Watson (Kelly Reilly, before she became associated
with Yellowstone). The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and
Jude Law power the two films and make them watchable.
The Gentleman, Gentlemen, Ungentlemanly ways
After completing his big budget tour of Hollywood, The
Gentleman (2019) takes us back to the original Guy Ritchie world of criminals
with more dialogue than action. Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Grant,
Colin Farrell neatly fit in this world which feels like an extension of Snatch.
Majority of the film is told via flashbacks and a conversation between Grant’s
Fletcher and Hunnam’s Ray. The dialogue is delicious and the violence is interspersed
with comedic punches. The film’s smooth-talking dialogue does run its course
especially since every character is uber smart, well-dressed (depends on your fashion
sense) and can do anything without ever getting their nails dirty. The film covers a lot of ground, introduces a
lot of characters, which aren’t really needed for a film under two hours. That
is why it makes sense that this film was turned into Season 1 of the Netflix
series The Gentlemen (2024), which expands on the framework created in The Gentleman with completely new actors and characters introduced in the Netflix series such as Theo James and Kaya Scodelario.
The Gentlemen series and The Gentleman
stand on their own but the two highlight the proper way to differentiate
between film and TV series. The series highlights the importance of long-form story
telling and taking time to explore a world with carefully etched characters.
The film instead shows a quicker dive into a similar world.
Having worked on two works with Gentleman/Gentlemen in the
title, it makes sense that Guy Ritchie tackled The Ministry of
Ungentlemanly Warfare based on Damien Lewis’ 2014 book Churchill's
Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of
WWII. Based on a true story about WWII, the film illustrates how an
unauthorized, unsanctioned mission Operation Postmaster resulted in disruption of
the Nazis U-boat resupply which allowed Americans to join the war and help the
Allies in turning the tide against the Germans
Jerry Bruckheimer is a producer on The
Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare but thankfully, the film isn’t a series
of explosions. There are plenty of dialogue filled scenes especially about
planning and logistics which echoes Triple Frontier (2019) with
some noteworthy performances by Henry Cavill (Gus March-Phillips), Anders
Lassen, Henry Golding and Babs Olusanmokun. Cary Elwes plays ‘M’ while Freddie
Fox plays Ian Fleming, which is a nod to the future James Bond world. As rumoured,
Fleming based his Bond on the real life Phillips which is believable given how
the character conducts himself with quick witty dialogues, smile and a charm. Eiza
González starts the first of her three Guy Ritchie collaborations with this
film (Fountain of Youth, In the Grey being the
other two).
Streamers money, cut-paste repeat formula
Both seasons of The Gentlemen are Netflix series
and Ritchie’s Fountain of Youth is an Apple TV+ movie. Clearly,
streamers are giving money to Ritchie to make material. The first season of The
Gentlemen worked while Fountain of Youth doesn’t as it feels
like the old straight to DVD type of film that is now routinely found on the
various streamers. A globe trotting adventure film, the type that National
Treasure made famous, Fountain of Youth features very
little cohesion and thrills until the final third. The plodding and dull start undoes
the film and that is a pity given the cast of John Kasinski, Natalie Portman
and Eiza González, with a blink and you miss it cameo by Stanley Tucci.
Ritchie’s latest feature In the Grey feels
like a disposable streamer film except it isn’t funded by any streamer and was
released in cinemas. In the Grey is a best-mix hit tape of Guy
Ritchie’s films as the story combines elements of The Ministry of
Ungentlemanly Warfare (more planning and logistics with three alternate
plans), The Gentleman (smooth talking dialogue, criminals moving
money) with actors from Ritchie’s previous films making an appearance: Jake
Gyllenhaal (The Covenant), Henry Cavill (The Ministry of
Ungentlemanly Warfare, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), Eiza
González (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare , Fountain of Youth).
Rosamund Pike is a new edition, but she plays her part as an uninspired
recycled variation of her recent films. The only saving grace of the film is Carlos
Bardem as Manny Salazar, a criminal whose stolen fortune and island forms the
backdrop to this heist film. The best example of Bardem’s screen presence is in
one scene where the young lawyer Rachel Wild (Eiza González) shouts at Salazar
and explains he is cornered. Eiza González is not believable in this scene (or
the film in general) and the scene comes across as a child throwing a tantrum.
Salazar’s cool detached expressions are a double nod to the scene and the film
itself: his look suggests acknowledgement that in this new world, a young
person can put him in place while the same applies to the film industry itself.
Bardem emerges from this whole mess with his acting reputation intact. Except,
we know how things work in Hollywood. The rest of the actors and Guy Ritchie
will continue to get more money to make even more forgetful films while Carlos
Bardem will still have to prove himself to get tiny parts.
