New British B-movie that strikes gold: Hitmen reviewed

Like a lot of modern day B-movie directors, the Enfield-based filmmaker Savvas D. Michael takes an almost tradesman-like pride in his output: the aim is to do as much as possible (artistically speaking at least) without splashing the cash.

And if you’re partial to the output of Guy Ritchie – the former Mr Madonna whose style has shaped an entire generation of testosterone-laden British filmmaking – you’ll be hooked to his latest, Hitmen.

For all Michael’s claims about the ancient classics (his previous film – about the underworld characters who frequent a North London social club – was sold as a modern day take on The Iliad), it’s clear he knows what side his bread is buttered. For much of its running time, Hitmen doesn’t stray too far from the template that has fuelled this cottage industry for more than a decade.

It helps that many of these familiar elements play into the hands of the frugal filmmaker – like the hoarse, all-knowing voiceover which provides the narrative structure, while giving us a potted history of each character and their motivations. It might have become common to the gangster genre, but it’s also the best way to cut to the chase.

Plot-wise Hitmen doesn’t wait long before lighting its fuse. Within five minutes, we have our first fatality – a botched pub fight that will soon serve as the catalyst for a transatlantic blood feud. From there we’re off to Manhattan, and latterly lovely Great Yarmouth, as various dormant criminal elements are conscripted into the noble cause of upping the film’s body count.

For all the slaying, Hitmen isn’t actually a particularly violent film. Yet it does take place in that parallel universe where Al Capone style shoot-outs occur regularly in suburban settings. Provided you’re willing to bridge that reality gap – and judging by the success of Sky’s Gangs of London, plenty of viewers will be – you should be fine.

From time to time, the film strikes gold, even if there is a touch of serendipity along the way. A decision to shoot many of the scenes in Great Yarmouth may have been intended as a cost-saving measure. Yet the faded seaside kitsch – including a nicotine-stained hotel and a cheap-and-cheerful American diner – looks oddly bewitching on screen. It also lends Hitmen a welcome air of originality.

And how about the acting? One cost-saving trick used by some B-movie directors is to avoid reshooting scenes unless absolutely necessary. If Savvas D. Michael followed that approach, it doesn’t show.

After 90 minutes, Hitmen reaches its big denouement, as a final hail of bullets leads to our gruff narrator adopting the tones of a Greek chorus. Our modern day tragedy is over: and without any semblance of justice or redemption. If that’s what the makers were aiming for, they certainly got their money’s worth – and then some.