Welcome to the Punch

Jacob Sternwood is one of the most notorious criminals in London. Max Lewinsky is the young detective determined to catch him, no matter the consequences.

Three years after Sternwood’s last heist where he shot and handicapped Max, his son is one of two men shot in an incident that could push the government to full police armament. Sternwood returns to London to track down the shooters, and Max gets one last shot to catch his man.

Written and directed by Evan Creevy and starring James McAvoy and Mark Strong, Welcome to the Punch has a few tricks up its sleeve to make it more than your run of the mill, same-old same-old cop thriller.

The top-notch cast does an excellent job, making each character memorable, though they never have to stretch their talents. There are some very slick visuals, especially in the opening chase scene. Unfortunately, most of the film seems to be set at night, which is never good for action pieces where you need to know who is gunning for whom.

The plot is fairly predictable, but it is the execution where it falls down. I found myself finally having pieced together the overall plan, just to be told it all by a character. For a cop film, there don’t seem to be many great detectives.

The characters themselves are rather clichéd, which multiplies the predictability. As somewhat of a result, through most of the film it is difficult to decide who to root for.
There are a fair few pacing issues and a rather unwelcome action set-piece.

Overall, enjoyable, but needed tightening in almost every department, for writing to editing.

6.5/10.