Does the "crime caper" or modern gangster genre of film still exist? You know the type: fast editing, modern music rather than a traditional score, usually either techno or diegetic music, sort of a "streetwise" tone, characters are often stoic or unhinged, usually dealing with themes like power and revenge and corruption.
There seemed to be a load of them in the 90s inspired by Scorsese and Tarantino, but maybe the clichés wore a bit thin?
These were some of my favourite films growing up, just the overall tone was appealing to a younglad.
I think they were largely replaced by “films that are clones of Taken” as a genre. But those have gone too now, possibly because it’s toxic masculinity and not allowed. Or maybe I am becoming paranoid.
The cliches wore thin and were replaced with other cliches - Taken, Bourne, Wick etc.
The other big factor is that a lot of the British film industry was a cover for tax fraud. A lot of weak gangster and horror movies were being churned out solely to claim tax relief, based on inflated costs for production in the UK.
I watched Bullet Train recently, which was surprisingly good. Even more surprisingly that my girlfriend suggested it which usually means I disregard it on principle.
It was very much a homage to those Tarantino and Guy Ritchie style capers, but directed by the John Wick bloke, so instead of gritty and urban it was all very slick. It had a series of interesting characters whose stories overlap and intersect, a lot of humour, all that lot. The two London geezer hitmen were stand out characters and the way their story played out actually made me feel what I believe are called "emotions" too.
But yeah these films are rare and hard to come by these days. I think it's mostly just down to the fact it requires some genuinely pretty clever writing, which is obviously harder than just leaning on tropes. Maybe I'm just a bit thick but I had to watch Lock Stock (which is for my money the best example of the genre) 3 or 4 times over the course of my life before I genuinely understood how all the pieces fit together.
There's also the furry kids movie The Bad Guys which had me grinning like a cunt all the way through with its pastiche of movies like these. Worth a watch for something more light hearted.
