alex_with_a_P

As anyone knows, Richie started his career with a specific kind of style which consisted of an enormous ensemble cast, intertwined storylines, double-crossing criminals delivering dry and sarcastic lines with bravado. When this recipe was wearing off , Richie started to go bigger and I'm glad he moved on, trying to evolve as a director.

With The Gentlemen he's going back to the old well, and although it's an entertaining movie for most of the time. There are certain things that doesn't make it as smart as it thinks it is. What made his earlier gangster movies so good, was that he had mostly an impartial attitude towards the characters. There were basically no 'good guys' just a bunch of opportunists trying to hit the big score. Which made it also very unpredictable who's going to "win", who gets the scraps, and who will bite the dust. That attitude slightly shifted with SNATCH (2000) and later ROCK'N'ROLLA (2008). It's not inherently a bad thing since morally grey protagonists can be very interesting like in Michael Mann's Thief (1981) or Walter Hill's DRIVER (1978). There's empathic qualities inherent in those latter characters. The Gentlemen tries too hard to make us sympathize with these cold gangsters, especially by making them look and act cool, and I found it to be pretty jarring. The result is that the story becomes very predictable towards the end. Although the movie is well made in terms of plot, catchy dialogue and it's twists, the glorification of McConaughey gangster character feels just ugly underneath it all. Too bad, because Ritchie's newer movies like Man from UNCLE and Wrath of Man are clearly showing he's still at the top of his game and evolving into a mature storyteller. This movie is well made and Hugh Grant alone makes it entertaining, so I would still recommend it. But I wish it would have nailed the ending.

I applaud the makers for trying to push boundaries in setting the movie into the sci-fi techno thriller genre. Too often animated movies are being empty vessels for mindless action or subpar adventure plots. This is very sober thriller, at times too sober.

The characters (and the designs) feel awfully cold most of the times. The pair of detectives Aline and Chris are old friends, but the magic moments for the audience to feel that bond, are missing. It's also the reason that a certain twist doesn't work towards the end. They have their banter, but their differences are always mentioned or resolved in one-liners, because they have to make room for the plot. It seems as if the movie needed more time, to let certain beats breathe.

The film is juggling several genres, and I like that it focuses on the investigation, it's a shame that the investigation in itself is so unengaging in it's storytelling. It's very intellectual, but lacks momentum and an exciting reveal. In general, there are moments missing pondering transcendence between humans and machines.

The world building is great, I loved all the details in terms of communication and technology and that most of them are introduced in a purely visual way. It is a great world, that could easily be expanded upon in a series. I also like the color choices, which is a mix of muted colors and strong contrasts. The only thing I didn't like was some of the background designs looked lifeless. Certain interior shots look like empty boxes, especially the city feels very dead. I assume there were budgetary reasons, but there are still ways to achieve it with stills and sound design. There's a lack of ambiance, more often the environments feel sterile. Intentional or not, cyberpunk needs strong visuals in my opinion, and the backgrounds were not up to the level of everything else.

The posing work is pretty good, only the animation is too stiff with it's pose to pose approach: Again, of course budgetary constraints are most likely the reason here but I wonder if the problem lies in the marriage of realistic designs with abstract, limited movements. I would still recommend the movie, especially to people who love animated films, this is something different. Too bad it didn't tackle bigger questions or come to an exciting conclusion for it's investigation.