7/10
Weaker but decent finish to a great trilogy
24 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I think the Snabba Cash-trilogy has an undeservedly low rating here on IMDb, it might be just because it's a 'foreign' film to anyone not Swedish or it might be because great crime-thrillers have been made for a long time, just not by Swedes.

Anyhow, as it usually is, the first movie is the strongest, with every sequel being a little weaker than the last. And while the second one was really close to the mark of the original Snabba Cash, the third one really wasn't, and here's why.

First of all, Jorge, JW and 'Martin' were our main characters this time. I liked all thee of them - a bit too much actually, as I'll explain in a moment. First of all, this was without a doubt Jorges movie. I didn't mind that too much as he's a really good character and when he finally gets to that light at the end of the tunnel, you feel happy for him and kind of relieved that someone made it out of the criminal underworld with scars but alive. Martin's end wasn't bad but a bit too abrupt and without exposition about his future, whether or not he actually strikes down on the Serbian crime family now led by Nata. I also thought Nata's turn to her 'darker' side were a bit sudden and really should have gotten some more time - or realistically - she shouldn't have shunned Martin without demanding some kind of explanation, especially since he clearly went well beyond his authority to help her. The weakest end by far was JW. Yes, it wasn't his movie. Yes, it's just another believable example of what can happen in the criminal world. Yes, his death can be viewed as sort of redeemed by the director since he actually did get his revenge of Radovic. However, this guy was the most interesting character in both first movies, which made his 10 minutes of screen time here a bit... shameful. He shouldn't even be on the cover of the film. Kinnaman does a great job as usual but whenever you see him on screen, you want more, which is denied. I think that's a bit sloppy. They could easily have given him a more interesting ending or more screen time by cutting some from Jorge (did we really have to see him yell at construction workers at Spain or chase that little kid who stole his jacket?).

With that said, this movie also had some storytelling flaws compared to the other two. The whole 'it was "minor character in the background" all along!' was a bit predictable and almost a cliché by the year 2013. There were also a bit too many moments that rode on the suspense of disbelief that you can usually lend a movie like this just so the plot can get rolling. Too many deadly situations being turned because the main character somehow managed to 'sneak' or were just damn lucky.

So how do I rate this somewhat weaker but still decent end to the trilogy? 7/10! Still a good movie with some really adrenaline pumping scenes. Could've used more JW, less abrupt endings for the main characters (only one out of three got a proper one to be honest) and some smarter writing overall that didn't feel like it needed cop-outs to deliver. See it if you liked the other two!
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