Welcome to the Punch opens on a thrilling heist inside Canary Wharf, evoking the style of Heat or The Dark Knight a tense, gripping scene that promises a great movie will follow. London looks fantastic, a steel behemoth towering over the action. Canary Wharf is an interesting location to choose, being instantly recognisable. Unfortunately the film falls apart fast, featuring some fairly wooden performances, a confusing, dull conspiracy and ridiculous action scenes that rely too heavily on slow motion.
The film centres on detective Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy), who in the opening is shot by criminal Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong) who he has been hunting for many months. The story flashes ahead three years to when Sternwood reappears following his son being shot, giving Lewinsky another chance to catch him. They both get caught in a conspiracy that seems to run right to the top of the police force, forced to work together to survive.
The conspiracy really drags the film down and is an obvious attempt to give the film a twist while also bringing the two leads together. It’s never really clear what the aim of it all was, with every character seemingly involved simply to take out Lewinsky for some reason. A lot of the problems come from a poor script. the first hour is spent on Lewinsky hunting for Sternwood, gradually discovering that some cops are bent. Then it’s suddenly thrown in that much of the police force and some of the government are involved. They spend the next 30 minutes working together, before the big, dumb action-packed finale. The film doesn’t seem to know how to end itself, going for all out action before just ending the conspiracy supposedly stopped but it’s hard to tell amongst all the death. There isn’t really enough plot to justify a full feature, it being obviously stretched out with more convoluted elements.
It might help if the characters were interesting enough to keep the audience’s attention but they are mostly a motley crew of silent, tough guys who only seem capable of expressing anger. James McAvoy gives a surprisingly poor performance, being both dull and incredibly clichéd. He does all this while offering a godawful cockney accent, also featuring one of the worst beards to be committed to screen. There’s no reason for him to give this terrible accent that I can see. He could have easily have been a Scottish detective and it would have made the character much less annoying.
Mark Strong’s accent isn’t an issue, but he gives a similarly wooden portrayal for the most part. However, unlike McAvoy there is one exception. One scene features him being taken to see his son, gradually realising he is being taken to a morgue. When he cries upon seeing his son’s body it feels genuine and gives him a real reason for wanting to take down the enemy. Andrea Riseborough is the strongest character in the film but is criminally underused, for the second time this year following Oblivion. She’s a likeable character with some nice little quirks, and unlike our hero relies on solid police work as opposed to charging in guns blazing.
The special features offer the standard fare, from a short making of feature detailing how the film was made. There are also interviews with the key cast, discussing the film’s production further. There are also all the trailers made for the film, if watching trailers is a hobby of yours.
Overall Verdict: The film does little to justify its existence, featuring dull characters and mind-numbing action
Special Features:
Making Of
Interviews
Trailers
Reviewer: Matt Mallinson