A British-made crime/thriller set in London?
I went to see Welcome To The Punch (WTTP) with a massive amount of trepidation. I couldn’t help but remember the shambling vomit-flavoured hangover of a mess (and spectacular failure at the box office) that was The Sweeney.
And yet, despite that awful legacy, I have been looking forward to seeing WTTP for some months.
The story is largely set in the glass-and-chrome underbelly of near-east London, and spells out the ongoing pursuit-based relationship between a cop and a robber.
Yes, WTTP is that binary.
And yet not.
There are so many sub-plots that, at times, the viewer needs to ramp up concentration, to pull back salient details from earlier in the timeline.
The story arc works well – despite some structural flaws – and the film is supported by some extremely slick production and post-production efforts.
The cast is excellent.
Mark Strong is exemplary, James McAvoy puts in a very robust performance and it is almost too easy not to mention a stunning characterisation from Andrea Riseborough.
The thing about WTTP is that this is a British-made, London-based crime thriller that feels… authentic.
Believable.
Where I watched The Sweeney and laughed, then almost cried at the awfulness of that film, the moments of unreality in WTTP are countable on the fingers of, erm, well, one finger, actually.
However, I did laugh – twice – during WTTP. Both laughs intentionally offered up in total delight at excellent examples of gritty, realistic dialogue.
Dialogue aside, WTTP is a very visual film.
It feels as if 60% went in to making the film look good, 30% went in to making it sound good (the audio production and backing are both far above average); but only 10% went in to the – at times clunky – at times witty – wordplay.
WTTP feels like an updated, 21st Century version of the kind of film that The Sweeney should have been (and failed to achieve, so spectacularly).
The Canary Wharf locations look stunning – beautifully lit, and excellently filmed – and they add a final glossy sheen to this 21st Century, London-based, crime/thriller.
Very worth going to see, a blindingly above average film in this genre.
Welcome To The Punch: 8/10