For most of the run-time, Welcome To The Punch is thrillingly cinematic, beautifully made, smarter and funnier than you'd expect, and a phenomenal showcase for Creevy and his team.
Writer-director Eran Creevy shows himself to be well versed in the mythic sweep of Christopher Nolan's and Michael Mann's crime sagas, if not their intelligence with storytelling.
I've watched it before, and it is as awesome as I don't know what. You see, when they did the casting for this film, I knew the found the perfect choice for the lead role in James McAvoy.
Welcome to the Punch is a suddenly neonurous action movie. Welcome to the Punch at first glance may seem like a classic B-movie action movie. But then it reveals itself as not a bad neonoir. A simple and already hackneyed topic about crime and detectives in English entourage. Well, how long have we seen it? And then suddenly the action scenes are shot not badly, and the plot develops dynamically and there are plot twists that work. The acting duo of the main characters is not bad and the ending is not devoid of logic and meaning. Welcome to the Punch looks much better than you expect it from the trailer. If you are tired of A-action movies and the framework of the genre, then Welcome to the Punch is a great example to watch.
A proficient but personality-free policer that demands little of either its audience or its enviable best-of-British cast, this simplistic urban morality tale miscasts the appealing James McAvoy as one good cop whose dogged pursuit of Mark Strong’s alpha criminal only uncovers the rot within police ranks.
Unfortunately, the rest of writer-director Eran Creevy’s film just shows that the Brits, too, make good-looking but empty thrillers, just like in Hollywood.
A good British action film is hard to come by, one that emulates and builds on old school action directors like John Woo and John McTiernan is even harder. Welcome to the Punch is that film and because of that it is delightful. The film follows the events that happen when lifelong criminal Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong) returns to Britain to investigate why his son has been attacked. While there he must contend with disenfranchised police officer Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy), someone Sternwood wounded years prior following one of his final heists. Welcome to the Punch isn't the most intelligent action thriller, in fact it can play quite predictable for a majority of its run time. It's not a film that tries to shock but it does try to impress in its writing (mostly successfully) and its performances (entirely successful), but most importantly the direction by Eran Creevy. The action in the film is sublime with an empty nightclub shootout being one of the finest gunfights since heat. The attention to detail is wonderful which adds a sense of realism to the action. Although John Woo Slow-Mo is used it never really feels out of place and gives the film a Max Payne Noir feel (the game not the film, never the film). Then again the film isn't all action, it's firmly placed in the thriller category as well as the film has an excellent sense of pace allowing for emotional moments as well as some very fast paced developments. It's a film that constantly shifts gears and because of that it is never boring and overall it manages to fit in enough great action moments to be a great movie.
This is a solid film that is a basically told as a very familiar police thriller. The acting is good and the film is shot well with good cinematography, but overall it's nothing special. B-
The movie overall is successful, as McAvoy and Strong bring seriousness to their characters with strong facial features and gritty personalities. The film, plot wise, was predictable and underdeveloped. Despite those aspects, the film was a success because of the two great actors, amazingly vivid colors and scenery and gun fights.
The film runs for 99 minutes, which is not long for most movies, but I feel this movie is a few minutes too long, filled with slow, drawn-out, unnecessary scenes that were aimed at contrasting the fast and quick shooting scenes. Also the film is lacking rich or witty dialogue, it is all but nonexistent.
Regardless, the actions scenes are colorful and blood pumping, which is the film's true strength that ultimately justifies watching it. The movie also stars Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion), David Morrissey (The Walking Dead), Jason Flemying (Snatch), and Peter Mullan (War Horse). The film, as you have read, includes many talented and known actors/actress.
Welcome To The Punch is about Max (McAvoy), a headstrong and tough London Cop who has been chasing a infamous criminal Jacob Sternwood (Strong), later to realize there is more going on in the world than Sternwood. I won't spoil the film for anyone.
This flick is good for a rainy day or a weekend movie night. But don't rent it and expect an In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels type of film. Welcome To The Punch is a good film, but slightly predictable and could use more interesting dialogue. Go into this flick to see some great scenery and fun gun fights, but that is all that can be promised. The old school Die Hard british version
This is one of the most generic movie I've seen this year. The entire cast is not only unmemorable, they are unlikable. Damn Brits aren't very good at making movie....