Before Mean Streets, Mike Hodges stripped away any romanticism to be found in the gangster film. There's a streak of evil running through the British crime film, a streak of which can be found in The Long Good Friday and The Hit.
Jack Carter isn't just another typical anti hero. He is a total bastard who wouldn't think twice about getting someone innocent killed in order to achieve his ends. His mission is to find out who killed his brother and as you see him dish out copious amounts of pain on his quest of revenge, you realize just how far he is willing to go. Michael Caine is known today as someone who brings this air of British classiness to the films he is in. Not enough people know him for arguably his best and most ruthless role.
Hodges never really retained this quality after Get Carter. He would go on to direct Flash Gordon, but that is miles apart from what he was doing here.
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