Sin City in London?
Lover: Taken from IMDB
"I really wasn't sure what to expect going into this film, in truth my expectations weren't necessarily that high, although I did very much like the look of the trailer. Simply put, I was blown away! From the 35mm slick cinematic look right through to the incredible array of characters on screen, I was gripped from the start. This is a cut far above your standard British gangster movie, it's oozing with style, I can't believe how much I enjoyed it. There is an action set piece about half way through that actually left me white knuckled (how many Hollywood blockbusters wish they could pull that off these days!) Alan Ford (Brick Top from Snatch) was brilliant, Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Martin Kemp were all on razor sharp form, Adam Deacon proves he really can act and Simon Phillips was on fire as the titular Jack. Yes the film wasn't without its faults and of course it won't be to everyone's taste, it's a revenge thriller noir when all said and done, but I was left genuinely shocked by the quality on offer, I highly recommend going in with an open mind (unlike I did) and checking it out for yourself.”
I agree but it really wasn’t as slick, it was more a cheaper sin city than “revenge thriller noir”
Hater: Taken from IMDB
“Saw this last night - what a disappointment and the worst film I have seen for ages. It was, in my opinion, a vanity project, and while I get that it is the final part of the trilogy, sometimes I would say less is more. The film was full of ghastly clichés, and the plot was at best tenuous, and I'm being kind. The film looked very cheap, more like HDcam noir than film noir, and was strangely edited Couldn't believe how bad it was, thankfully this is the final part of the trilogy. The acting was so wooden it was embarrassing, and the plot was incredibly corny. The black and white shooting, with the odd splash of colour, while done to make it look cool, was just incredibly annoying. This film left me incredibly disappointed and in some ways cheated. Definitely wish I hadn't bothered going”
Swings and roundabouts really, saying it look likes HDcam noir is a little harsh. It looks crisp and sharp I just don’t think it needed the splashes of colour.
What I thought:
There are no two ways about it; this film will be described as a Sin City style thriller set in London, however upon watching there are very few similarities. Film noir and black and white is not exclusively Sin City, ok so there are splashes of colour that in my humble opinion are un needed but do draw comparisons. Unfortunately the colour used in this sadly looks more like a gimmick added in to put some gravitas into what is a run of the mill London based crime thriller.
Truth be told the comparison to Sin City makes watching this film worse, the characters though based on a graphic novel are not that comic book, the places are real and the violence apart from shooting through a floor maybe is not comic book. This film needs to be watched as a different beast a crime thriller in the vein of Snatch, filmed in black and white that features some stereotypical characters and runs along at a healthy pace.
This is the end part of a trilogy but stands just as well on its own, which is a good thing as I hadn’t even heard of the first two!
