Snatch gets away with murder

It could have been a case of geezer chic, RIP. The British gangster flick, re-invented two years ago by Geezer No1, Guy Ritchie, and aped by loads of lesser geezers in the film industry, was all set to be murdered this week by Ritchie's gangland sequel to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Rumour was out that the new movie is an 'orrible mess: ridiculous plot, ludicrous racial caricatures, unspeakable means of corpse disposal. A wittily violent genre initiated by Ritchie was on the brink of ending in bloody farce with the release of Snatch.

Given special public screenings in selected London cinemas yesterday, Snatch had the chance to spread positive word of mouth before British critics get to hack the film to pieces later in the week. At a sell out screening in the ABC Tottenham Court Road last night, the audience laughter which accompanied varied scenes of human mutilation and bare-knuckle battery was starkly contrasted by the reaction to animals. An illegal dogfight received a plaintive "aah" and the starring role played by a pitbull, which eventually swallows the central diamond, got a cheer as it evaded human gunfire.

"The dogs look cute," said Suha Aladhub, 20, of Great Ormond Street. "Vinnie Jones was brilliant, he just has that 'I'm a bad guy, don't mess with me' thing." "It's so funny. There's so much violence, but you don't realise it because it's so hammed up," said Alison Bolton, 18, from Darlington. "Really good. Like Lock Stock, but a little harder to predict," said Alex Reid, 23, of Walthamstow. But Maggie O'Farrell, of Kentish Town, was a rare dissenting voice: "I was quite shocked. I think it's racist." Kenneth Gullie, 19, of Glasgow, said: "Much better than Lock, Stock. It's very well stylised."