Snatch reviewed by Toby Robinson

GANGSTERS, fighting, guns and wit - Snatch is definitely one of those films for the lads.

Theres no doubt that comparisons will be drawn over Guy Richies latest offering and the film that made his reputation Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which I guess is fair enough.

Opinions seem to be divided ahead of its opening on Friday night, but personally, if I had to choose between the two, Id probably side with Snatch.

The film revolves around the theft of a 84 carat diamond.

Having just netted the massive stone, expert thief Frankie Four Fingers (Benicio Del Toro) stops off in London before making the drop-off to his boss Avi (Dennis Farina) in New York.

Unfortunately for Avi, Frankies a compulsive gambler and gets involved in betting on an illegal underground boxing match organised by a pair of crooked promoters Turkish and Brick Top, played by Jason Statham and Alan Ford.

Meanwhile, Frankies contact, Boris The Blade (Rade Serbedzija) decides to do the dirty on him and organises a gang of small-time thieves to do one over him.

Unhappy Avi decides to make his way to London and sort out the problem for himself by hiring bounty hunter and tracker Bullet-Tooth Tony (Vinne Jones).

During the chaotic chase for the stone our shady boxing promoters have become involved with vicious gypsy bare-knuckled fighter Micky OeOne Punch ONeil (Brad Pitt) and his habit of not lieing down even if the price is right.

Pitts final fight sequence, with an opponent Im almost certain is real life heavyweight Scott Welsh, is excellently done and perhaps the best Ive seen in recent memory.

Maybe not too much of a surprise, but Pitt certainly steals the show with his performance as the vocally unintelligible Irish Oepikey. It took me forever to work out this meant gypsy.

Fast moving, with a good music score and certainly very funny at times, Snatch certainly shouldnt disappoint Lock, Stock fans and cinema-goers who dont take the genre too seriously.

Rating: 8 out of 10.