Review of Snatch (2 disc set)

Introduction

Snatch, Guy Ritchie’s follow-up to the cult hit Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, provides more of the same that was so successful on his debut. Except now he and his team are back with a (slightly) bigger budget, and a little more finesse.

Ritchie also wrote the extremely convoluted plot – sometimes nonsensical, mostly quite wonderful. The plot is too complicated to explain, but basically involves a stolen diamond, bare-knuckle boxing and some of Ritchie’s stereotypical-but-lovable characters.

Video

The picture quality is great: it keeps a high level of detail and clarity, whilst still retaining the gritty cinematography and muted colours as they were filmed in Snatch, and also in Lock Stock. An excellent transfer.

Audio

The audio is also superb, with good rear speaker range and deep bass available when called for. The soundtrack is well-chosen with most of the songs perfectly suited to the on-screen action, although it is not as good as Lock Stock’s.

Features

This 2-disc set is absolutely packed with every extra imaginable: commentary, featurette, storyboards, deleted scenes, interviews, and more.

One the first disc is the commentary by Guy Ritchie and Matt Vaughn, the producer. This is quite entertaining and the pair are obviously very comfortable together, although I would have liked to hear more about how they created some of the fantastic camera tricks they used. There is also a ‘White Rabbit’ Matrix-style feature on this disc that inserts deleted scenes, like in the X-Men DVD. A very worthwhile addition that really shows the usefulness of DVD.

On the second disc is one of the funniest and, fortunately, least PR-manufactured featurettes I’ve seen. Ritchie and the rest of the cast and crew are in fact quite witty. It seems that life really did imitate art, as they had so much fun making this film. Also included is a lengthy set of interview clips, spanning the huge main cast of actors. Multi-angle storyboards – an increasingly popular feature nowadays – are here too, for three key scenes.

Finally, all the rest of the usual crop of extras: lots of trailers and TV spots, production notes, filmographies, photos – are also on the packed second disc. A short set of goofs is also included for the sake of completion. And watch out for the many hidden extras, which are also surprisingly good. Hint: press ‘up’ around the menu…

Conclusion

Snatch cannot avoid being compared to Lock Stock, despite Ritchie’s numerous protestations that “it is not a sequel”. Officially, it is true that the characters are different in name; however, in nature they are very similar. You have the Cheeky Cockney Chappies, the Hardman Mercenary, the Local Kingpin, etc. Ritchie’s influences are obvious: a little Pulp Fiction narrative structure (with a dodgy boxer as well), the plots all coming together is reminiscent of Go, and some almost plagiaristic fight scenes straight from Fight Club. And yet Ritchie retains a style mostly his own. One thing that can be said for him is that he knows how to work a camera: he has a great eye for film and a good ear for the soundtrack. Snatch works the audience perfectly – the opening credits is an example of knowing exactly what your fans want: it is fast, frenetic and with bags of style.

Snatch is by no means the “movie of the year”, as the quote by that great guardian of taste, The Sun, says on the box. The jokes seem a little too similar to Lock Stock, as do some of the scenes – the drunken scene looks to be almost replicated from Ritchie’s earlier effort. I also found the overly sarcastic vein of humor a bit tiresome. And the long exposition needed for such a sinuous plot is surprisingly long for such a tightly edited film. Even after this has been done, the story doesn’t really explode into action until the incomparable Vinny Jones appears.

But Snatch has all the makings of a huge cult hit, as its popularity in The Sun and on IMDB (top 100 already) shows. Of course this is no classic, but it deserves to be a box office smash and will find itself as a some people’s favourite film. I doubt Guy Ritchie can exploit the comedy/farce nature of London’s gangland beyond one final film, to make a trilogy. Sooner or later he will have to write characters with some depth to them, and turn his remarkable camera gimmicks and into worthwhile cinematography – he could be our very own David Fincher if he gets the right script. However, for what it is, Snatch is a very good film.

This 2-disc set is an essential buy. I would say that Snatch is the best original R2 release, in that they haven’t just been using the extras found on their R1 counterparts. Besides, the extras on these discs make this release one of the best around, regardless of region. And it’s all the more satisfying that Europe and the UK get it first for a change.