The Gentlemen Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs
2. It's Basically Just Guy Ritchie's Greatest Hits
Though many will simply be pleased to see Guy Ritchie stepping back from the bloated blockbuster game and returning to his more at-home world of British gangsters, it's also fair to say that The Gentlemen largely sees the director leaning back on his familiar faves.
From the overly wordy, Tarantino-esque dialogue and tricksy narrative structure to the setting and overall style, there isn't a lot here that feels fresh or particularly creative.
It is a safe movie in every sense of the word, and while crowd-pleasing in that sense, sadly doesn't see Ritchie trying in any way to sufficiently innovate or update his own much-imitated engagement with the genre.
Again, it's not a deal-breaker, but given how much the world has changed since the release of Rocknrolla, it sure would've been a ripe opportunity to examine the gangster movie within the context of, say, Brexit (which is fleetingly mentioned at one point) and toxic masculinity in particular.