trashcan-e

"Ifeelzeneedzeneedforzspeed." - either this killer line from Sabine, or the PC wagon full of Indians, the "chemistry" of two 2x4's, Gordon's cars versus what-now? - take your pick, the show gave me plenty of reasons for turning it off. It is something else entirely now - the show you used to love will be airing on Amazon. This however, does not fly with me and I'm not putting myself through another hour of this. I'll be surprised if it finds its crowd and if it proves big enough for BBC to keep pouring money into it. Leblanc is okay on his own, but when they're together with Evans - oh. my. god. If you are going to keep this running though, BBC - word to the wise - make Sabine The Stig.

It's not terrible, but that's also not saying much. The score also isn't very indicative of this film's quality, but on such a prominent site as IMDb - it is no surprise. 5 stars for the effort of trying to be something it clearly isn't - a Guy Ritchie style gangster flick.

Is it funny ? Yeah, at times - it is, but most of the laughs are accompanied by a cringe. Is it original ? Hardly. You always get a feeling you have seen all this before - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it feels like Re-Directed is awkwardly trying to mimic its bigger brothers from UK. The dramatic arguments in some of the scenes feel incredibly forced - clear over-acting steals the emphasis from what should be really important in the scene. That said, the pacing is okay, there's enough action for this kind of movie and it doesn't stall too much. Also, I found some scenes genuinely comical, but some were a bit too cliché-ridden.

What deserves some applause though, is that the director didn't attempt to paint a realistic picture of Lithuania, but took the satirical, "Looney Tunes" approach instead. It's one of the things I actually liked about this film - it's very light-hearted and doesn't take itself seriously, which scores it some very much needed points.

This is something you watch once, then remember how many times you had watched Snatch/Lock Stock, and then watch them again - because they are worth it.

This film was frankly a surprise. If I were to criticize it for its numerous shortcomings such us plot-holes, implausibility etc. and then weight it against the good bits - the action, the movie would definitely fall into below-average category for me. However, after reading a few of of these "1-star" reviews, I asked myself, just how much fun did I actually have watching it ? A lot. The action scenes are brutal, thrilling and completely unapologetic by nature of their portrayal, which leaves you shocked breathless at times. There's no romance/love story to divulge to, the film doesn't shy away from attacking the viewer with more extreme violence and it does so beautifully. The result ? Well, it definitely had me glued to the edge of my seat and my mouth open throughout the watch. This is the reason I can forgive its many drawbacks that would strangle many other films in the genre. It's two hours of unchained, ridiculous, over-the-top violent FUN. Purely based on that I give it an 8; I wasn't blown away, but this little gem does its one thing very well and, in my eyes, it's enough to carry the whole film. And yes, this is what the last Die Hard should have been like.