While hinged on a threadbare plot as familiar as it is forgettable, this sinewy action B-movie delivers just about enough primal entertainment
The making of Jason Statham, from wheeler-dealer to swimmer to model to
Actor to movie star, is owed in rather overwhelmingly large part to writer-director Guy Ritchie, who plucked him out of a French Connection campaign and into his first two films. Magnetic turns in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch paved the way for an unlikely yet robust career as a throwback action antihero, punching,
shooting and wisecracking his way from DTV fare all the way up to blockbusting franchises. At the same time, Ritchie had made a similar leap, away from the laddish gangster capers that made him and instead, taking charge of studio tentpoles like The Man from Uncle, King Arthur and Sherlock Holmes, two boys done good, at least when it came to their bank balances.
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