User Reviews

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

'Welcome to the Punch' is a solid idea that becomes a little overblown for its own good in the final act; clearly inspired by the crime classics like Mann's 'Heat', it doesn't pull it off as well. That and some pacing issues aside though, the terrific performances from a top-notch who's who British cast, including James McEvoy, who only has one obvious accent slip in the entire film, Andrea Riseborough, who can do anything, and the brooding, incredible Mark Strong, who almost steals the thing doing little more than looking around. Stylish to within an inch of its life, the fantastically brooding score to match the fantastically brooding faces on screen, and the gorgeous photography carry it through with unexpected panache. Nothing you don't expect, but basically what 'The Sweeney' wanted to be.

It's been a long time since I have seen so much advance publicity for a film. Underground stations and trains, buses and billboards in London seem to be festooned with posters advertising "Welcome to the Punch". There has also been a noticeable TV advertising campaign in the UK, aimed at plugging the film's supposed entertainment value. It is clear that "Welcome to the Punch" has a substantial PR budget attached to it. I am not surprised that so much effort is being made to convince potential viewers of the film's credentials. Although "Welcome to the Punch" is a reasonably entertaining film, it is ultimately a disappointing one. It has more style than substance. It's a slick, glossy thriller that looks expensive. However, it is also a bleak film with (apart from one funny scene that is a strangely effective mixture of humour and tension) little to lighten its almost unremittingly depressive milieu.

"Welcome to the Punch" is an attempt at modern day noir. It seems to me to have been heavily influenced by some of the recently successful TV crime series emanating from continental Europe (primarily Scandinavia), such as "The Killing", "Borgen" and "Spiral". However, it's not as good as any of those programmes. A few years ago, criminal mastermind Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong) injured London detective Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) and fled to Iceland to escape the clutches of the police. He has now returned to London because his son has been shot and injured and is critically ill. This gives Lewinsky the opportunity to try to apprehend him for his past misdemeanours. Thus begins a complex tale of revenge, political and police corruption and obsession.

"Welcome to the Punch" is entertaining. It is beautifully filmed and is a visually confident film that is a delight to look at. The acting is, for the most part, good - there is very effective support from the likes of Peter Mullan, Daniel Mays and David Morrissey. The soundtrack too is spot on. So, why is it no better than an averagely good film? Well, for one thing, the plot is so complex that it is sometimes difficult to follow. There is, for example, one scene in which the behaviour of a character (which ultimately leads to her being killed) is simply inexplicable. We have to wait a further 30 minutes or so for an explanation of why she did what she did. This is most definitely a film that requires the viewer's undivided attention - so much so that watching it sometimes seems to be much more of a chore than a pleasure. In addition, it is sometimes difficult to discern, amidst the frequent scenes of gun violence and mayhem, exactly which character has been injured or killed. This is because several of the actors have a similar physical appearance to each other and because the action all too often takes place in a darkly lit, brooding atmosphere that makes it difficult to see exactly what is going on. McAvoy gives a very good performance as the obsessive detective hellbent on revenge (despite occasional lapses with his London accent!). And it is certainly the case that "Welcome to the Punch" is a stylish film. But it is ultimately also a bleak and empty one that, despite the money and behind the camera talent expended on it, barely raises itself above the level of a competent thriller. 6/10.

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...

When thinking about English Police dramas, The Bill usually comes to mind, episodes where two overweight police officers would run around estates trying to find out who robbed the local Sainsbury's. Thankfully, Welcome To The Punch, is a lot more sophisticated and glamorous than that, directed by Eran Creevy ,(who also made the fantastic Shifty), this film features quite possibly the most beautiful presentation of London as a modern city that I've ever seen on the big screen. But visuals are only part of a film, so how was the rest of it....

Dropping us right into the middle of a complicated heist, we see rugged cop Max (James McAvoy) ignore orders and get shot in the leg by one of the criminals (Mark Strong, bald bad guy from Sherlock Holmes). The film then zoom three years into the future and we're on board a plane, where a young Asian/Arab man reveals he's been shot and runs off the plane (it hadn't taken off yet, or that would have just been silly), whereby he calls his dad to come and help him.... his dad who happens to be the criminal we saw shoot the cop three years ago!!! Madness. This all leads to a broken down and now permanently injured cop Max realising that this is his big chance to get vengeance for what happened three years ago....but is everything as clear as it seems, who is he actually chasing?

This film is no classic, in fact, it's just about verging on being a good film, for all the spectacular scenes of explosions and shoot outs, there lacks an intensity to the film, James McAvoy does well in his scenes as a cop who's seemingly given up on life, but it's hard to really believe he is a tough and guilt-ridden cop when he still looks about 12 years old (even with a beard). To it's credit, the story does manage to change it's focus numerous times, and these twists initially kept me engaged with the plot, characters we hate manage to gain sympathy and vice-versa, but after a while, the plot just becomes too complicated, and verges on becoming a comedy. So overall, a decent film, one worth checking out on a Friday night if you're a fan of action, but in no ways a film that changes the genre.

6/10

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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the film opens with our lead character London City Detective Max Lewinsky chasing a gang of thieves making their getaway on motorcycles after a bank heist, eventually Det Max gets shot in his right thigh by the leader of this gang and the criminal mastermind Jacob Sternwood. we then go further in time exactly three years from that incident, Sternwwod's son is in way over his head and he is bleeding from a bullet wound after a heist gone wrong in the end he gets busted in the airport and taken away to a hospital, this calls for his father Jacob to go back to London in order to help his son escape and settle the score with whoever framed his boy but detective Lewinsky is eager to get his revenge by any means necessary and the hunt starts.

with a good supporting cast that involves Andrea Riseborough, David Morrisey, Peter Mullan, Daniel Mays, Johnny Harris and a Cameo from Jason Flemyng besides a very good Marc Strong as the cold blooded killer yet the kind of villain that you'd sympathies with, it's James McAvoy who steals the show with a stellar performance.

The Dialogues are good, you feel like it was written by someone who knows what he is doing, on the other hand the story is not that good but it's OK, like so many people who reviewed this film i had a problem with the plot being predictable most of the time which is bad in this kind of films.

this is an action film so let's talk about the gunfights, yeah it's set in London and yeah we know that cops in London don't use guns but in this movie something happens and the authorities are forced to use firepower i won't go deep in this matter because i might spoil the movie for you, anyway the action junkies wont be disappointed with this it's got a lot of shootouts, a good final shootout that reminds us of the excellent video game Max Payne(bad film), in fact in this film i don't know what is it with the characters but i find most of them extremely trigger happy, American like trigger happy not the usual gunfights from the UK.

Overall this is a very watchable action flick that brings us back the nostalgia of the 80's and the 90's with good performances from the whole cast and good job by the director.

My Rating: 7/10

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.

Seems like your standard cops and robbers heist/chase film. Then it looks like a high-tech spy meets local cops film. Then it settles in and becomes something else, but with no shortage of cops and guns and government involved.

It's essentially a mystery to discover who the bad guys are.

The big drawback is the shootout scenes where people suddenly become unhittable with slow motion and cutaways used to try to make it seem real. This isn't a film happening inside a computer, so bullet dodging isn't realistic and takes away from the immersion and believability. The film has enough going on for it that it really doesn't need to even attempt such nonsense.

The video and audio is all exceptional, with a surprise punch to the title.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Officer Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) is still reeling after an encounter where he failed to snare career criminal Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong), who's now retreated to Iceland, but is forced to come out of hiding when his son is mortally wounded, along with another boy who was killed. Desperate to catch his formerly illusive prey, Lewinsky closes in on Sternwood, but they find themselves working together when they find each other stalked by the same enemy.

Sleazy politicians and corrupt arms firms are at the heart of Welcome to the Punch, a Brit action thriller with an overload of style but a serious short change of substance. Eran Creevy's film is littered with nifty production values and slick editing, but can't hide what a formulaic, predictable ride it is all the way. Despite trying to respect the viewer's intelligence with a fairly intricate plot, the clichés are no less in evidence.

One of the many other, far superior films that springs to mind is Heat, in terms of the style the film is aiming for, and so we have McAvoy and Strong at each respective end of the desperate, determined cop/illusive prey end. Pacino and De Niro they are not.

It's got an all star Brit cast, some fluid action sequences, everything, it seems, but real heart. And without that, what can you do? **

There are a lot of low budget British thrillers about wanting to be the next 'Get Carter,' most of them poor and even though they might feature good actors, they end up being poor and pedestrian.

Welcome to the Punch is a mixture of hard boiled Hong Kong and Tarantinoesque USA edginess thrillers.

Dogged cop James McAvoy is after charismatic hardened criminal (but no psychopath) Mark Strong who plays the anti hero.

McAvoy is after Strong who wounded him (even though he could had killed him) in a getaway some years ago.

Now Strong is back in town because his son has been arrested and McAvoy now hooked up with a feisty female sidekick sees his chance of catching this big fish.

It soon becomes clear that there is more to this game of cat and mouse. There is a general election taking place and the Shadow Home Secretary is using all the shootings to go on a tougher law and order platform.

The Police Chief is under pressure with the murders in the capital and the press are after him for letting crime spiral out of control.

Johnny Harris playing an ex army henchman who rather enjoys his job.

Its is uniformly well acted, it has good story that moves pacily and although if you think about it, you see the twists coming.

It becomes clear that this film was written when there was a Labour government as the Shadow Home Secretary is very much a Tory.

With so many poor hard action British thrillers released, this is like an oasis in a desert.

I watched this film despite Michael McGarry's Review which seems to hold the top review score.

IMDb seems to of hit the bottom of the barrel as far as reviewers are concerned these days. This film was brilliant, the acting was great, the story and the plot was amazing. Only a moron wouldn't get this story line! Instead of the typical "hero" film, this is something different, something a bit special. OK, it does start off a bit slow, but at least your straight into some action instead of some boring "lets get to know the characters" rubbish.

To sum up, I loved this film, it gave me everything the title suggested and more. I would highly recommend it.

Ignore every other review and trust me!

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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A number of British directors have helmed stellar crime oriented dramas in the years gone by. Examples include the consistent Guy Ritchie's Snatch (2000), the prolific Matthew Vaughn's Layer Cake (2004) and even Peter Collison's original Italian Job (1969). British cinema has also delivered the works of Ian Fleming, with the latest Bond film, Skyfall, marking half a century of Bond movies and accumulating a worldwide gross in excess of a billion dollars.

Nonetheless, all of the above movies have the advantage of being Hollywood productions. Welcome to the Punch, on the other hand, does not have the distinction of a massive budget or a household name. Nonetheless, Eran Creevy's attempt at a crime caper is a step in the right direction. After making his debut with the impressive Shifty (2008), Creevy makes his foray in the action genre. The outcome is an effective and intense movie.

The premise focuses on headstrong officer Max Lewinski (James McAvoy), who was thwarted in his pursuit to apprehend elusive fugitive Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong). Their confrontation ended with Sternwood shooting Lewinski in the knee before absconding with his fellow criminals. Fate presents Lewinski with a shot at redemption three years later when Sternwood is coerced out of his refuge courtesy of his son being shot in London. Thus, Lewinski is afforded a second chance to exorcise his demons. Chaos ensues as the principal characters become entangled in an intricate web of revenge, politics and corruption. Alongside the leads, Creevy has assembled a potent, exclusively British cast. Andrea Riseborough stars as Sarah Hawks, the composed yet ultimately naïve partner of Lewinski. The movie marks another notable, albeit limited, performance by Riseborough, a burgeoning British talent. The role of police chief Thomas Geiger is played by David Morrissey, renown for being The Governor on heralded television series The Walking Dead. The rest of the cast comprises of Johnny Harris as an ex-soldier turned mercenary, Peter Mullan as Sternwood's trusted ally and a transient appearance by Jason Flemyng.

McAvoy refuses to be bound by stereotype as a seething and desperate cop in dogged pursuit of Sternwood. Hell bent on atonement, he excels as his character illustrates the physical and psychological ramifications of being felled by a bullet to his knee. Although not a physically intimidating figure, McAvoy renders an imposing portrayal nonetheless and exhibits versatility throughout the movie. On the other hand, perennial villain Mark Strong delivers another performance as the antagonist following roles in Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass and John Carter.

Eran Creevy has previously stated being heavily influenced by Hong Kong filmmakers Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. Furthermore, Welcome to the Punch is comparable to Michael Mann's style of direction, particularly Heat (1995). Creevy delivers a slick, visually confident movie that serves as his tribute to his inspirations. He wastes no time, as evidenced by the opening salvo of the film: an engaging chase sequence filmed at Canary Wharf, London. The neon blue glow adds weight to the film, especially the action scenes.

Like Shifty, this is set entirely in London. The capital is almost a distinguished character in the film. It is shown as a metropolis in all its glory and shines throughout. The skyscrapers are amplified by the blue tint as well. The crew, specifically the director of photography and the sound department deserve an honorable mention. Welcome to the Punch is a visually ambitious fare and the score complements the overall setting well.

Creevy, who also wrote the film, is culpable for a few misdemeanors. He may be deemed to prioritize style over substance. The focus from the inception till the climax is predominantly on action, sporadically compromising other key aspects of the film. As a consequence, the movie is bereft of character detail and development. The dynamic between Lewinski and Hawks is underdeveloped, for instance. With a runtime of just under a hundred minutes, the clarity suffers from the frenetic pacing.

Ultimately, Welcome to the Punch is an aptly names gritty thriller with solid credentials. It is certainly a commendable and competent crime caper.

The British film industry can be a very strange beast, as it acts as half-way house between Hollywood and Europe and where movies are seen to have the potential to break into the American market. This is certainly the hope for the British action-thriller Welcome to the Punch, which looks impressive, but is filled with many clichés and plot holes.

Max (James McAvoy) is a jaded police detective who is after Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong), a gangster that got away after a bank heist and was shot in the knee. Three years later, Sternwood is forced out of hiding when his son is found shot at the City of London Airport, where Max sees an opportunity to get his man and sparks new life in him. But soon Max, his partner, Sarah (Andrea Riseborough) and Sternwood all end up investigating a conspiracy, involving a soldier turned gun smuggler, Dean Warns (Johnny Harris) and a private security company, all to the backdrop of raising gun crime and the Shadow Home Secretary calling for all British police officers to be armed.

Welcome to the Punch is a great looking film, using a harsh blue filters and florescent lighting as it highlights the modern heart of London. Writer/Director Eran Creevy shows great confidence behind the camera and he definitely knows how to film a shootout. The movie starts out with an exciting chase sequence and whilst the fist fights were shot too close and cut too quickly, Creevy is clearly a man with potential. Welcome to the Punch was a very stylised looking film that supplies plenty of solid action and slow-motion. But whilst the action scenes are competently handled, they are not revolutionary either and the best one was the chase sequence at the start of the film.

The biggest draw of the movie is its cast, which has some of the best talent Britain has to offer. McAvoy, Strong and Riseborough are all of course very talented and give fine performances, especially Strong who gives his all for the film. Welcome to the Punch also has an excellent supporting cast, having the likes of Tyrannosaur's Peter Mullan and The Walking Dead's David Morrissey, playing pivotal roles and act as the professionals they are.

Max and Sternwood have a battle of wits throughout the movie and both men are great tacticians, with instincts to match as they try to outsmart each other. The other major theme playing throughout the movie is revenge as Max has a dogged determination to get Sternwood and make a name for himself, as Sternwood wants to find the people who hurt his son. The duel narrative between the two is balanced extremely well and blended naturally, when their paths cross once again.

If there was a major fault of the film, it would have to be the screenplay, which attempts to bring an American style cop thriller to the British landscape. What we get is a film filled with just about every cliché the crime genre has to offer and makes it look like it was made by people who have no idea about how the British police or politics works. I felt like an outsider looking in, as they Americanise the British police system and felt very false. The Home Secretary is highly involved with all of the investigations, when in reality he is a policy maker, he is not involved directly on ground level law enforcement like a District Attorney or Chief of Police. Police procedural fiction is very common in the UK, in the form of TV and novels and we know how the police in this country.

We see the clichés of how the Max is distrusted by his direct superior, a conspiracy with corrupt police officers, Max having incredible instincts, that would match Jack Bauer's and yet he's someone that manages to keep his job, after a sackable incident that would a PR nightmare.

The plot itself is faulty, as we dig deeper and deeper into the film, throwing new elements and names that when introduced, makes them hard to keep track of. This happens despite the actual plot and conspiracy being extremely simple. What makes the conspiracy worse in the film is when everything is revealed, it exposes massive plot holes and logic questions that you can drive a bus through. The story collapses on itself in the final act and it simply ends up feeling like the plot of a bad Spooks (MI-5 in the US) episode.

Welcome to the Punch is a film that contains plenty of flash and professionalism and it looks more expensive than it really is. But the lacklustre story filled with clichés and plot holes makes Welcome to the Punch, a sadly disappointing movie. Cheevy does have plenty of potential as a director, but he may want to step away from writing duties next time.

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I personally love this genre of film but I still don't think I'm being biased in saying that it was really good. I thought the story line was fairly simple which isn't a bad thing as it made it easy to follow while there were twists to come into the plot later on. The main character was played by James McAvoy and I found it interesting to see him playing a cop out for revenge as I thought this contrasted from anything I have seen him play before. The other lead role was portrayed by Mark Strong who I thought played his part really well. This film may not be the most original but the characters and the cast made it unique. There were some brilliant action scenes which were well placed throughout the film making it extremely gripping from start to finish. I think this is an enjoyable film and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was after reading some unfairly negative reviews.

I really wanted to like this movie better than I eventually did.

The setting and camera-work is top drawer. The script a bit less so. The clichés are at a manageable level.....But the film never really suspends disbelief. James McAvoy is part of the reason for that. Despite his nominations and awards Mark Strong delivers a far more powerful performance IMHO, and Andrea Riseborough is the best of the three leads, portraying a mouthy in-your-face uncompromising detective perfectly, and managing to avoid all the cliché traps that litter American movies featuring female detectives.

The script, though, is the main culprit I fear. It's a jumpy tale, delivered staccato and with the various gaps sometimes I was left wondering if I was watching a flashback sequence.....and No I wasn't. The viewer is left to fill in the gaps by himself, and catch up as best as he can. And develop and fill in the back-story preceding this movie for himself.

There are the usual set pieces of The Clever Hero detective struggling under the terrible limitations and appalling decision-making of his politically aware but otherwise Dickhead management team. A team which somehow seems to have misplaced the 774 Police Officers who operate exclusively in the square mile of the City of London. Although I guess our hero wouldn't be such a hero if he had the customary backup of the local Plod.

So an OK Film. With some really nice elements. It just needs deeper writing. The Long Good Friday it isn't. So if you can gloss over the limited script you can still enjoy the visual delight of the camera work and the performances of Strong and Riseborough.

'Welcome to the Punch' is mostly about Max Lewinsky who looks after the criminal called Jacob Sternwood over years and never close to have him. But suddenly a guy who is believed to be Jacob's son (Ruan Sternwood), was found shot at airplane and had been taken to a hospital. Max and police department exploited this situation to make him a decoy to arrest Jacob. Cop chasing criminal is not kind of movie that easily make these days. In 1990's, there a bunch storyline in action movies about this which makes most people sick of this genre unless they could make it more interesting and creating something that doesn't have in other movies. Unfortunately, 'Welcome to the Punch' doesn't offer something like that. This movie just make the same formula that had already existed in those kind of movie.

The storyline is quite interesting at the beginning but it's mostly dull and predictable, the script is also so cheap though. 'Welcome to the Punch' is so serious without any humor that would make audience feels exhausted and bored watching it. James McAvoy's acting as main role is not bad but his character shows no improvement, Max is so obsessed to catch Jacob who had let him alive at early scene, I think Max should be grateful to Jacob for not killing even he surely could do that. Overall, 'Welcome to the Punch' is not original and Eran Creevy as director had no creativity to take any risks making something different that makes this movie easily passable.

This film is about a young policeman who wants to get even from the criminal who shot him in the leg, thereby also ruining his reputation.

"Welcome to the Punch" is visually appealing to look at, as it has many stylish scenes of the London skyline at night. The opening sequence is very stylish as well, creating high hopes for the film. However, things simply go downhill from the opening scene.

As a thriller, the plot is what holds the film together. Even though I watched critical scenes several times to make sense of what is happening, the plot remains incomprehensible. The plot is so poorly explained, that I simply did not understand why people shot each other. Character development is woefully inadequate, and the characters did not have enough distinction between each other. There were many times that I wonder who was on the screen and what they were doing.

There was a scene at the end where a character explains the whole plot in a confession. Even after that scene, I still had no idea what the film was about. "Welcome to the Punch" was really that confusing! Unfortunately "Welcome to the Punch" was a waste of time.