RocknRolla (2008)

When small-time crooks One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba) decide to legitimately invest in some prime real estate, they soon find themselves out of their depth and in debt to old-school London gangster Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson). Cole himself is in the middle of a business deal with Russian gangster Uri Obomavich (Karel Roden), but when his duplicitous accountant Stella (Thandie Newton) tips off One Two and Mumbles about an upcoming big-money business transaction, the two scallywags swoop in and steal the cash. Setting off a chain reaction of violent retribution, the pair find themselves caught in the middle as old and new school gangsters fight for dominance, while Cole's missing rock star stepson suddenly reappears with some rather ambitious plans of his own.

Following the critical brickbats hurled at Guy Ritchie's last gangster flick - the convoluted and downright barmy Revolver - the director has jettisoned pretentious posturing and returned to the fast and loose crime caper thrills that made Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch such hits. Less cartoonish than those films but still full of the knockabout humour that has become his trademark, Rocknrolla is a promising return to form replete with an excellent cast that also includes underrated character actor Mark Strong and Bond girl Gemma Arterton. Stylish, sexy and above all fun, it might only be Rocknrolla, but we like it.