Inspired at a young age by 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Guy Ritchie has always known the type of movie he’s wanted to make. Luckily for him and his vision, there’s no denying that Ritchie is a director who operates on a single stream of consciousness. His films are all distinctly his own, with a signature Ritchie flare that feels wholly original and wholly British. Like many of the most stylistic directors of our time, Ritchie never attended film school. Instead, he watched movies on his own time and made it his mission to become a director. Since directing his first film back in 1998, Ritchie has been a non-stop source of excitement and fun and pastiche. Of his nine films, one thing remains consistent: Ritchie knows what he likes and he refuses to change.
Snatch
Ritchie’s second film manages to evade the sophomore slump — Snatch is the perfect vehicle for Ritchie to show off everything that makes him, him. It’s convoluted, it’s flashy, it’s light, it’s fantastic. Ritchie unabashedly gives this movie his all, and it shows. It’s a blast from start to finish, with great performances all around from Jason Statham, Brad Pitt, and Benicio Del Toro.
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Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
A close second to Snatch, Ritchie’s first movie showed the world what he was about. Thick British accents and complex plots, vibrant characters and great action, all showing the seedy underbelly of London not often seen on film. Ritchie is all about paying tribute to the films that inspired him, and Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels is no exception to the rule.
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The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
A remake of the classic television show from the mid-1960s, Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a love letter to a genre and a time period long gone. It’s the perfect summer blockbuster, full of enough wit and flash and excitement to distract the viewer for a couple of hours. Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer are great leads, and Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki are two of the best up-and-comers working today.
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Sherlock Holmes
Arriving not long before the BBC’s adaptation of the classic source material starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes stars Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law as the timeless Holmes and Watson. The scale is huge, the action is exceptional, and the performances are memorable. Ritchie successfully turned these classic literary icons into franchise-carrying stars.
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RockNRolla
Another quintessentially British film with a stacked cast, RockNRolla is as funny as it is exciting. Ritchie utilizes Tom Hardy, Thandie Newton, Idris Elba, Mark Strong, and many others to the best of their abilities to create something so totally Ritchie. This film serves as his median: it’s his fifth film of nine, and we’ve ranked it fifth-best of nine. It’s got everything that makes Ritchie memorable, but it also hints at the things that have dragged him down from time to time throughout the years.
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Ritchie’s sequel to his first Sherlock Holmes film, A Game of Shadows is looser and larger than its predecessor. This is, of course, for better and for worse. It introduces Moriarty, perhaps Sherlock’s creates foe, but it also introduces plenty of overwrought plotting. A Game of Shadows is certainly diverting, but there’s a lot to be desired. Hopefully, the third film will prove to be an improvement.
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King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Ritchie’s most recent film on the list happens to be one of his weakest entries yet. Based on an ancient tale featuring equally ancient action movie conventions, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword could have been great but ends up being just all right. Action movies should be more exciting than this, no?
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Revolver
Fortunately for Ritchie, everything above this entry on the list is watchable, at the very least. Revolver is a complete misstep for the director, containing all the signature Ritchie elements but none of the flow or energy that typically makes them work together in unison. There’s no telling what went wrong with this movie, but it’s a lost cause.
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Swept Away
What in the world is this? A remake, for starters, but everything else about it evades a simple description. It stars Madonna and Bruce Greenwood, but their performances are devoid of all life. This should tell you all you need to know about the film: the director of the original Swept Away left a private screening in tears over what they had done to her film.
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