Guy Ritchie to me for quite a long time was more recognizable as Madonna's husband. For a brief period after his divorce, he was Madonna's ex-husband. Being the husband of such a popular pop diva, for some reason did not make me think too highly of the man. Catch me stereotyping here, but I could imagine him carrying the diva's bags with a smile planted on his face, happy about the lucky break in his life. I could not have been more naive! In my defence, if there is one, I had only seen Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, before and while I had enjoyed the film from start to finish, I could never imagine the director Guy Ritchie being the same Guy Ritchie whom I thought of nothing more than Madonna's hubby. A few years back, I saw Snatch. Then I saw Sherlock Holmes. In 2011, I saw the sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. I profusely apologise to Guy Ritchie for ever judging him. The guy is a genius!
Imagine, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was Ritchie's first full length feature film. That's a bullseye to start with! Next came Snatch. That's like hitting again the same spot that you hit with your first shot. Both these movies which have been written by Ritchie (the Genius) himself have a very special style when it comes to the screenplay. The stories are largely gangster movies, filled with numerous characters that get caught in the mayhem of activities, eventually leading to a unique blend of humour and violent action, intertwining with each other. The beauty of both these movies lay in the style with which characters entered and exited the short stories running within a larger story effortlessly, keeping your brain cells active all the time as you grapple with the shifting of gears within the story. It is Ritchie the writer here that impressed me the most, than Ritchie the director, though the latter did nothing less than a fantastic job on these movies too! The part where they created a unique accent to Brad Pitt's character in Snatch is simply a masterstroke.
Two duds followed next, Swept Away starring wife Madonna (who will be referred to as Ritchie's ex) and Revolver. RocknRolla released in 2008 to relatively better reviews and results. It is probably this 8-year period after Snatch where Ritchie could not match the brilliance of his previous creations, that have been the hurdle for the guy reaching a step higher in the director rankings. He seems to be making up for lost ground though. Sherlock Holmes again saw Ritchie achieve commercial and critical success, but this was not the same old Ritchie anymore. Call him maybe a refined one. He took one of the greatest literary characters of all times, cast an actor who too is making up for lost ground, and added his own touch of magical herbs to the broiling pot, creating his version of the ace detective while keeping the outlandishness of the original alive. Two years later, came the sequel, with the same results. Guy Ritchie was truly back in the game!
So where is Guy Ritchie now? Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows released in late 2011, which is more than an year back now. Imdb shows Guy Ritchie's next directorial feature film as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with no release year or casting details, though the trivia section says George Clooney had to drop out due to health problems. Wikipedia page on Guy Ritchie does not even feature this movie. Rather it talks about the possibility of a sequel to RocknRolla titled The Real RocknRolla. If you dig a bit further, Ritchie has already written the script for it but there is no further activity. If you really cannot give up and start googling, Guy Ritchie has been brought in by Warner Bros to direct an adaptation of the classic book Treasure Island. So which one is going to come up next? And what about Sherlock Holmes 3? Surely in this age of sequels and sequels of sequels, you are not going to 'let be' such a popular franchise. Or are you? I am as stumped as the one next door. I have no preferences at the moment and am just waiting for Ritchie to announce his next movie and resolve this mystery. Whichever it turns out to be, it would be interesting to see the transition that he makes, after successfully evolving from an indie movie maker to a big studio backed director. Can he now solidify his stature, and make people look forward to seeing the next Guy Ritchie movie? I certainly think so. But then I am always the optimist, aren't I? Fingers crossed!
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