Director: Matt Gambell
Cast: Mark Wingett, Claire King, Rachel Bright, Nicholas Brendon, Vas Blackwood, Jonno Davies, Francesca Louise White, Zed Josef, Greg Tanner, Lisa Ronaghan, Hainsley Lloyd Bennett, Bryn Hodgen, Christopher Ellison
Rating: 18
Running time: 102 mins
Release date: 02/11/2018
If there is one genre the British Cinema thrives on and does well at, it is a good old-fashioned Gangster yarn.
Although GET CARTER (1971) and THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY (1980) are still the yardsticks by which all subsequent films have been modelled on, given their classic and iconic status worldwide, there are always new generations of film-makers who cannot resist a chance to move the genre forward. Films like THE BUSINESS, LAYER CAKE and LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS are three such examples that have capitalised on the potential of the form and have managed to preserve the essence of what have made the Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins classics endure since their inception back in the day.
And now we have a brand-new modern gangster epic, KING OF CRIME, which is not to be confused with the recently Hatton Garden affair, KING OF THIEVES. The film premiered in Milton Keynes on 29th October 2018 in a stylish red-carpet affair.
Veteran Mark Wingett, who made his name in Franc Roddam’s classic Who adaptation QUADROPHENIA, plays Marcus King, the UK’s most notorious cyber-criminal and gangster, living in a plush country house estate. His family is pretty much prone to demonstrating the same kind of vicious practicality, notably his wife Yvonne (Claire King), who thinks nothing of offing a vulnerable woman who has been summoned by her under the deceptive ruse of it being her husband when she attempts to get answers to an incident that has occurred upon arrival at the King household.
However, Marcus has reckoned without vicious foreign gangster Mr. Mustaffa (Vas Blackwood) who has designs on infiltrating his manor by commandeering his businesses with an ultimatum.
Meanwhile, Jessica (Rachel Bright), who is working for Marcus to pay off a family debt, takes in a seemingly-naive hacker, Tully (Hainsley Lloyd Bennett), who seems to hold the key to her freedom from Marcus’ clutches. The scene is set, but as is often the case, there is more to the story than meets the eye, with everyone involved seemingly hiding a secret or two from each other….
KING OF CRIME is passable for the genre and holds it’s own throughout. Granted, there is a lot of old-school gangster techniques, with credit card scams amidst the cyber-currency transfers that everyone desires. It is to be applauded for trying a new perspective on the Gangster Genre, but retains brief but vicious moments of violence from the outset, with some admirable make-up effects to tantalise audiences who love this type of film.
Terrorism once again plays a key part in the narrative which has been used a great deal in recent years in these enlightened post-9/11 times and there are one or two flaws in the idea here which are forgivable as dramatic licence. Traditional motifs of violence and scenes which evoke classic Tarantino in reference are also in the mix, but there is sufficient style and substance to elevate it to more than your average British gangster film.
Writer and Co-Producer Linda Dunscombe structures the film with plenty of twists and turns, although given the film’s heritage, you might find the revelation at the end a little out of the ordinary, but that is not to decry what the intention is.
Wingett and King are excellent in the lead roles, backed up by a spirited performance from Bright and although some of the supporting female cast are used as mere window dressing and eye-candy, Bright is an exception as she attempts to break the cycle of misery she is trying to escape from in a smarter-than-average female supporting role.
It’s also great to see Wingett getting a big-screen role alongside his QUADROPHENIA contemporary Ray Winstone and he has aged nicely into a more mature role. With the 40th Anniversary of the British Mod classic imminent in 2019, KING OF CRIMES certainly has an opportunity to remind both an older and younger generation of what can be achieved before they get old.
Director Matt Gambell holds the film together admirably and one does hope that he gets the same kind of chances that the likes of Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn have. The violence is a little more suggested, thus making it more impactful, but remains true to what a Gangster movie should be.
