Produced by French action filmmaker Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Professional), Revolver finds British director Guy Ritchie returning to criminal sagas, such as his Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), following his disastrous 2002 remake of Swept Away, starring his wife, Madonna. Though Revolver is not on par with his two previous action films, it’s not bad. True to form, Ritchie employs his trademark techniques of hyperkinetic editing, ultra-violence and myriad characters to tell the tale of Jake Green (Jason Statham), who has recently been released from the slammer and is looking for revenge against the Mob boss (Ray Liotta) who reportedly set him up. Two loan sharks (Andre Benjamin, Vincent Pastore) offer to protect Green for all the cash he has after Green learns he has a fatal disease. Though the film is all over the place and new characters are constantly being introduced, Revolver has its moments, as Ritchie juggles all the elements in a haphazard yet undeniably exciting fashion.

Shelf Talk: It took Revolver two years to find distribution in the U.S., and when it finally hit a limited number of theaters, it flopped both critically and commercially. A second, better life is practically guaranteed on DVD, as Ritchie and the home-video-friendly cast, led by Statham (The Transporter), will be solid draws for those who like a little snap and crackle with their hard-hitting pop.