Imitation is a form of flattery (Thank U Quentin)

Rating: 5/10 (4 January 2001)

"Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels" is an entertaining but ultimately an evanescent work which pales in comparison to anything written and/or directed by the true master of the genre, Quentin Tarantino.
Tarantino is brilliant at melding the old (Hong Kong & Blaxsploitation) with the new and along the way he created a whole new language of film. As a result, Tarantino created some of the definitive films of the 90's. Ritchie tries to do the same, except in this instance he tries to repackage Tarantino's work (Pulp Fiction, True Romance, & Reservoir Dogs) into something new. The effect is not the same. What was fresh in the Tarantino films seems ultimately derivative and overwhelmed by its own style.
Looking at the backgrounds of Messrs. Ritchie and Tarantino can help give insight into where each artist is coming from. Tarantino, by all reports, was the child of a working class single mother and he toiled away for years in a video store in the gritty South Bay of LA while eating, sleeping, breathing film. Mr. Ritchie, whom the media purported to be a "hoodie" type, is anything but: he grew up the child of privilege. Both had to overcome their backgrounds to succeed in the business, but whose voice resonates stronger and more authentically?