Welcome To The Punch Review

26th Jul 2013

Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy, X-Men: First Class), is one of the Met’s shining stars until he is shot in the knee by his nemesis, master criminal Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong, Zero Dark Thirty), during a high octane chase through a highly-stylised London.

Three years on and Max is now a jaded officer who has never quite recovered from letting Sternwood slip through his fingers, while Sternwood has retired to a stunning Norwegian retreat. However, when Sternwood’s son is badly injured during a heist gone wrong, Sternwood returns to London, allowing Lewinsky one last chance to catch his man. But as Sternwood and Lewinsky play cat and mouse it becomes apparent that there is a conspiracy which runs far deeper than either man could have predicted.

Welcome to the Punch is a very stylish film which makes the most of its location: London. So much so, that the city might consider itself the star of the film. The city is seen is lights and glass throughout and the effect is stunning. Unfortunately this somewhat detracts from the uninspiring script and the inexplicably lacklustre cast (with the exception of the charismatic Mark Strong).

The cast is outstanding, which includes some of the British actors working at present, such as: James McAvoy, Mark Strong, David Morrissey, Peter Mullan Johnny Harris and Andrea Riseborough. Sadly they can’t seem to save the film and their performances suggest that they are aware of this, for such great actors there is a genuine lack of charisma and screen presence, it’s bizarre. It could be argued that McAvoy is far too young and fresh-faced to be convincing as a tired, jaded cop, he simply doesn’t seem to work well in this role. However, Mark Strong is excellent and manages to bring charisma and excitement to the screen.

Unfortunately the rest of the film seems to be a British-gangster-flick-by-numbers and it feels as though we’ve seen this all before. Especially with the cliché-riddled script which includes cheesy one-liners such as “I don’t get criminals elected….I arrest them!” Oh dear.

Welcome to the Punch is a stylish film with noble intentions, but something about it just doesn’t sit well. It’s not engaging, the characters are two-dimensional and everything just feels somewhat lacking, especially the recycled, rehashed story line. A case of style over substance, this film just can’t seem to engage the audience.