Guy Ritchie is credited with helping to kickstart a subgenre of London-based crime thrillers with non-linear narrative devices, snarky characters, and a very dark sense of humor. After the success of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, it seemed like Ritchie was the heir apparent to Quentin Tarantino, as he was a filmmaker who could seemingly get an audience to a new project based purely on the fact that his name was attached. Ritchies reign of success was met with an early impediment when his remake of Swept Away starring Madonna was critically reviled, leading him to once again collaborate with Jason Statham on the gritty, neo-noir thriller Revolver. Although it was interesting to see him attempt to do something radically different, Revolver was a strange attempt at surrealism that didnt reflect what made Ritchie an interesting director.