In early 2020, Guy Ritchie released a terrible movie called “The Gentlemen.” It wasn’t his worst — there’s a lot of competition in that area — but it left the impression of a writer-director completely incapable of telling a coherent story.

Well, four years later, something must be going on with this guy — maybe somebody told him, “Hey, it’s time to stop confusing audiences and start making sense” — because Ritchie’s new eight-part Netflix series “The Gentlemen” is the best thing he’s ever done. And this is coming off the movie, “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” (2023), which aside from the egomaniacal title, was the previous best thing he’d ever done. 

Just to be clear, this “The Gentlemen” is not a TV version of the movie of the same title. It’s a different story with different characters, and exists in a whole other universe of quality. I watched all 400 minutes of it and thoroughly enjoyed it, even if a couple of things were slightly off.

The main disappointment is that the intention of the show is clearly to go beyond the initial eight episodes, which limits what the writers can do. They can’t change the essential situation, and they can’t start killing off main characters. Yet, within those constraints, they manage to still craft an entertaining show.

By far the best (and longest) episodes are the first two, which Ritchie directed from a script that he co-wrote. In fact, with a little tweaking, those first two episodes could have been fashioned into a very good standalone movie.

Theo James, who played a scoundrel in Season 2 of “White Lotus,” stars as Eddie, a captain in the British army. He returns to the family estate for his father’s death and finds out that dad’s will skipped over Eddie’s dissolute older brother. Eddie is now a wealthy man with the inherited title of duke, which means he gets called “Your Grace.” (Only dukes and duchesses get to be called “Your Grace.” Earls and marquesses have to settle for “Your Lordship.”)

However, in short order, Eddie finds himself with two big problems: The first is that his self-destructive older brother (Daniel Ings), someone who’d make Fredo look intelligent, owes 8 million pounds to the mob. The second is that there are drug dealers operating a cannabis factory on the family estate. Eddie’s father allowed them to do this, for a hefty rent, but Eddie wants them gone — and getting rid of a billion-dollar drug enterprise isn’t going to be easy.

James turns out to be a commanding leading man, exuding self-possession and poise, while sometimes deftly indicating that this duke is in over his head. He develops a strong rapport with Kaya Scodelario (“The Maze Runner”), who plays the woman running the cannabis factory, the daughter of a powerful imprisoned mobster (Ray Winstone). Watching these two attractive people maneuvering with and around each other is a big part of the pleasure here.

There’s also a playfulness about “The Gentlemen” that’s enjoyable. Each time new characters are introduced, you can be sure there’s going to be something delightfully twisted about them. It almost becomes a game, where the audience tries to guess what the twist might be, and the screenwriters strive to come up with something weirder than expected.

After the first two episodes, the show dips a bit, but not enough to mind. It’s only in the last episode that “The Gentlemen” becomes clumsy. But by then, it’s built up enough goodwill that it doesn’t much matter. 

If there’s another season, let’s hope it’s the last, so they can resolve the entire story.

Reach Mick LaSalle: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com