Review Detail

9.6 6 10
agtt_front
FanMix August 30, 2021 2101
(Updated: September 10, 2021)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Gangster movies have always been one of my favorite genres. Scarface is my favorite movie of all time. Barely beating out Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner. Go ahead and laugh, I can almost hear you.

When I found out that the multiple award winning L8wrtr had blessed us with his return ("My man!") and his first project was going to be to finish this edit, my hopes were very high. Very very high. I was not disappointed. I was even fortunate enough to get to preview it. Hell yeah!

I won't spend time on the technical aspects, others more savvy than me already have and will. I think it's a flawless masterpiece. Everything flows like it was meant to be. For me...it was. I base my review on previewing the workprint and then the released version, a few days later.

I liked the original which was loosely based on the true story of Frank Lucas's rise and fall as a Harlem drug kingpin who started out as a small time hood falling into the footsteps of Bumpy (real name, seriously) Johnson. The protagonist (or antagonist? Depends on where you stand?) is Ricky Roberts a policeman on a drug task force hell bent on catching him. It feels like an excellent biopic and not really an action movie.

L8wrtr flips the script on that and takes their interwoven stories and ingeniously separates them into three individual yet smoothly consecutive acts. You are able to get to know each character intimately before their lives converge and reach critical mass in the final act.

It is an amazing well thought out narrative restructuring that causes the movie to unfold with a different vibe altogether.

Now it feels like a movie with an element of mystery and the unknown. A cat and mouse game, as it were. You play "cat" with Ritchie as he discovers and is perplexed by this mysterious new high quality heroin that is taking his streets by storm. You are with him as he encounters Lucas at the boxing match and later puts the pieces together. You play "mouse" with Lucas as he rises from Bumpy's footsteps as a criminal mastermind who figures out how to revolutionize the heroin trade. The assumed trademark name, "Blue
Magic" even seems more appropriate now. The "mouse" evades and outsmarts the "cat", the entire time schmoozing the mob while just as powerful. Finally, you are with both of them as the "cat" circles in on the "mouse" and pounces.

The stroke of genius on L8wrtr's part is that even though the acts are presented consecutively, the stories are still running concurrently until the climax that is the concluding act. It's a much better way to watch the movie-by far.

A stunning achievement from a long time missing master of the fanedit. A masterpiece for certain!

It's great to have you back! Your fans are very fortunate! Thanks for allowing me to play a small part.

You never answered me...is Frank a tragic hero?

Highly recommended!

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