Welcome to the Punch

I've been waiting to see 'Welcome to the Punch' ever since I heard about it (and managed to miss its cinema release). Mark Strong is such a talented actor. I've seen him in a few films which weren't very good, yet his performance has made it worthwhile. Then you have James McAvoy, who always turns in a great performance no matter what he's in. How could I lose? I did. Welcome to the Punch is billed as 'Britain's answer to Heat.' If that's the best we can do, I think we should let Hollywood win on this one. This is nothing like Heat. Never before have so many talented - British - actors been assembled and produced something so average.

I won't say it's bad, just totally mediocre. It's about policeman, James McAvoy, seeking revenge on the gangster, Mark Strong, who shot him during a previous robbery. Nothing special plot-wise, but with such a good cast you should expect them to make something more out of it. However, the best part of the film was the way it's filmed. London has never looked so cool and stylish, plus it seems to be shot using some sort of blue/green filter to give it all an ultra-cool look.

If you really want to see another British gangster movie then this one isn't bad. Then again, perhaps it's worse than bad - it's disappointing.

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Welcome to the Punch is a gritty, adult, Brit-flick, crime thriller. Got that? Whilst that's probably not an entirely fair summary, but it's better than 'It's the British Heat', which is what I heard a couple leaving the auditorium proclaim.

It is a strong possibility that Eran Creevy had Heat in mind when shooting Welcome to the Punch, his second film as director (after Shifty, from which he has recast Daniel Mays and Jason Flemyng) but it lacks the class, it isn't as smooth, we don't identify with the protagonists in the same way and, heck, we're not going to be talking about it eighteen years later.

Creevy opens the film moodily with striking strips of light that could be daylight through a blind or cold bars on a prison cell, something some of the characters do, should or will get to know very well. The imagery blends into a smoky scene with atmospheric music that heightens the expectation and builds the excitement of what this clever thriller will reveal. It's an excellent start to Welcome to the Punch that, unfortunately, isn't sustained.

Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong) is a crook with a moral compass, of sorts, as detective Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) discovers when chasing him through the sewers after a heist. Rather than decorate the tunnel with Lewinsky's brains, Sternwood opts to shoot his knee out instead and make his escape without adding murder to his list of crimes. Fast forward x number of years and Sternwood is forced out of hiding after his son is involved on his own heist that goes belly up, which may give Lewinsky the opportunity to lock up his nemesis. But, naturally, it isn't that simple as the investigations suggest a conspiracy that runs deep.

There are periodic moments of surprise, not least of all seeing Sightseers' Steve Osram in a 'squint to see it' role as a reporter and some fine action and suspense. Principal amongst the list of reasons to watch Welcome to the Punch is Andrea Riseborough as Lewinsky's sidekick, Sarah. In last year's W.E. she pulled off the remarkable trick of emerging from a quagmire unscathed and here, though this is far from a dreadful film, she is one of the few actors who convinces or is always enjoyable to watch. There's a rawness to her performance as she tries to counteract Lewinsky flailing cop with dwindling confidence.

Strong is on a roll here, taking his time, exuding confidence in his own ability but never advancing beyond a steady pace. McAvoy is adequate but a far cry from the quality of his performances in Shameless and The Last King of Scotland. He's worth more than this and I'm going to brush over this performance in the hope that next week's screening of Trance sees him back on form.

Wooden spoons belong (again) to David Morrissey and (yet again) to Daniel Mays who is dangerously close to steeling Danny Dyer's mantle.

Overall, Welcome to the Punch is enjoyable but never blows us away. We're never really able to engage with the characters and it feels like a film with B-list stars and supporting a cast that is destined, deservedly, to remain a rung below them on the ladder.

Catch it on DVD and then, a month later, see if you can remember anything about it.

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The plot has several twists and turns, and thriller elements are catchy to follow - but it seems, however, that the screenwriter was very eager to add sophistication and all this resulted in a series of unlikely and strained scenes. Heists are seldom carried out with stylish clothes and technology in-sync, and ambitious corruption is not a sign of the UK police force - to name a few odd things... The ending scenes and the very end are scheming as well.

The male cast is strong and even, particularly James McAvoy as Max Lewinsky, Mark Strong as Jacob Sternwood and Peter Mullan as Roy Edwards. Female characters tend to be sketchy and were uninviting to me.

Although no Boyle or Ritchie, Welcome to the Punch is still more than a B-film. Violence is not playful, crime is gloomy and good persons tend to die as well...

Inspired by Hong Kong 'heroic bloodshed' flicks, this hardnosed cops 'n' robbers tale certainly lives up to its name. James McAvoy's supercop exhibits a dogged intensity in his hunt for Mark Strong's antiheroic supercrim. During their heated cat-and-mouse game, the two uncover a conspiracy much bigger than their own dispute.

The two leads keep things moving along nicely with their ambiguous dynamic, with a supporting cast of familiar faces picking up back-end duties rather nicely. Special mention must go to Shane Meadows favourite Johnny Harris who, as a cold-blooded ex-military henchman, exudes a barely-restrained predatory animalism, familiar to those who saw him in This is England '86. Top performances, decent pacing, and an ending which refuses to settle it all in quite the neat and tidy way one would expect.

Welcome to the Punch...I think...

So, I actually managed to get to the advanced screening of Welcome to the Punch this evening. Unfortunately, not a single one of my 150ish London based Facebook friends could accompany me to the free advanced preview of the film and, at first, I must admit that I was very disappointed. But now, I find myself wondering whether they knew something that I didn't!

Eran Creevy, writer and director sets the stage clearly with an opening sequence that plays out in London's glossy, glass and steel covered Canary Wharf. It pulls us in straight away. We find ourselves almost immediately invested in both the protagonist (James McAvoy as Max Lewinsky, detective cop chap whom we're meant to root for) and antagonist (a stern Mark Strong playing naughty bad guy, Jacob Sternwood), willing the story to tell us more about these two characters and the motivations behind their actions.

Borrowing heavily from the audio visual flare of Nolans bat films, particularly 'The Dark Knight', we're lead to believe that a stylish cat and mouse action / crime caper in the style of Heat awaits us. I honestly found myself asking whether this could actually be the British 'Heat' after the first 10 minutes or so. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes in, my first 'gripe' smacked me in the face (from McAvoy's performance no less!) This was followed by the second, and the third, and continued to do so until the end finally came, with a twist that was visible from a mile away and a convoluted plot that had to be explained through exposition about 10 minutes before the film ended.

Relationships between characters felt shallow and under developed, making empathy nigh on impossible and ultimately, leaving me somewhat bored of the whole thing. None of the questions that the film raises in our minds as we progress through its 'narrative' are answered and I was left feeling cheated every time. The audience needs to know why certain things are happening surely?; Sternwoods treatment of Lewinsky and vice versa, for one. So why not just tell us?

The cast deliver strong performances with what material they have bar McAvoy, surprisingly, who gave one too many clichéd reactions which caricatured our hero and made us less sympathetic to his plight.

For all of the films good moments it has its bad and ultimately, the bad simply overpowered the good. The little niggles (in the form of conveniently placed tools, bad aim etc.) and wannabe Bourne esque plot, along with a serious lack of satisfaction from the 'bad guy' being trumped (because, technically, the 'bad guy wasn't) made the film a lot poorer than it rightly deserved to be. Because from a technical stand point, the film looks and sounds great. And the story still feels interesting, and I want to know more. But, with the serious lack of character development and exploration of their (implied) back stories, the film finds itself lying flat on its gun riddled back after its 99 minute runtime.

Sadly another missed opportunity for British cinema.

Unless of course, this was designed as an Infernal Affairs style film and a prequel / sequel fills in all the 'gaps'?

Welcome to the Punch opens nationwide on 27th March.

Rutvig Vaid.