British writer/director Guy Ritchie follows up the enormous success of 1998's comedy thriller Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels in a similar vein.

With Snatch he once again delivers the goods in every department, with some wickedly black humour amongst the cartoon gangster violence.

In the thick of the story, diamond thief Franky Four Fingers (Benicio del Toro) arrives in London to deliver stolen gems to Doug 'The Head' (Reid), cousin of his New York-based underworld boss Avi (Dennis Farina).

In London's East End, Franky crosses paths with Boris 'The Blade' (Rade Serbedzija), who plans to snatch the prize diamond for himself.

Unfortunately, Boris' accomplices make a pig's ear of the stick-up, and the rock ends up in the stomach of a hyperactive dog.

Meanwhile, boxing promoter Turkish (Statham) lands in a tight spot with local kingpin Bricktop (Alan Ford) when his fighter in a forthcoming illegal boxing match is accidentally knocked out by a fearless Irish gypsy called 'one punch' Mickey O'Neill (Pitt).

As events twist and turn, the two situations blend into one with a chain reaction of events carrying on for each and every elaborately named character.

Whilst the movie toys with the cartoon violence, it also shows its repercussions, as when Mickey has the tables turned on him in an horrific scene.

There are also moments when Ritchie exploits the plot's comic and dramatic possibilities.

For example, when the ferocious Alan Ford surfaces as the crimelord Bricktop, he chomps down hard on the gritty lines and you can almost see the remains of his foes between his teeth.

Dominic Bloch