In the first few minutes of this Jason Statham/Guy Richie reunion, you’ll notice things sound a little different. There are efforts all around to affect a modern-day version of a film-noir, crime drama, tough-guy dialogue delivery -- a vernacular trying too hard to be Shane Black or Tarantino. It sounds weird and it’s distracting. Thankfully, most of the movie unfolds in flashbacks, so those characters and that style disappears and the editor takes over the storytelling. If it were told in a linear fashion, there would be nothing new about this at all. But the gerrymandered story structure manages to build some suspense until the inevitable Heat-inspired, bullet-riddled conclusion. It’s always a kick to see Jason Statham doing his whispery, soccer-hooligan thing. But for the most part this is old hat.
It’s notable that this is the first movie I’ve seen in a movie theater since the pandemic started, so about a year and a half. I’m glad to be back.
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