Welcome to the Punch

****
UK Release Date: March 16th 2013

Ex-criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London when his son is involved in a heist gone wrong. This gives his nemesis, detective Max Lewinsky, one last chance to catch the man he's always been after.

Director: Eran Creevy

Starring: James McAvoy, Mark Strong, Andrea Riseborough, Johnny Harris, David Morrissey

East-end London has never looked so good. A metallic blue flair has been washed over Canary Wharf. It's clean, sleek and almost futuristic. We see Detective Lewinsky (McAvoy) chasing Jacob Sternwood (Strong) along the deserted streets of the city centre, but he ends up incapacitated because he doesn't follow direct orders.

The opening scene sets the pace nicely, and you can tell from the get go that this is a revenge movie. At least that would be the case if it lacked its shocks and twists. After years of pain and suffering, nothing will stop Lewinsky from catching Sternwood. Along for the ride is detective Hawks (Riseborough). Between them they being to reveal a conspiracy that's buried underneath the death of Sternwood's son.

Eran Creevy has focused so much on the plot that the characters, although they stand tall, have little room to expand. It's thanks to the superb acting that we have a connection with them at all. A romance never ignites where it should but never fear, what Welcome to the Punch lacks in with emotion, it more than makes up for in intensity.

A scene that has a Reservoir Dogs feel to it is tense and thrilling. Johnny Harris is assassin Dean Ward. He's forced to sit in front of his nan with the enemy and stay cool and not attract any unwanted attention (from the even unaware nan). This scene is one of the many that is full of tension. Great camerawork and some fine scripting makes for gripping action that stays with us until the end.

Overview: Welcome to the Punch has a magnificent cast that manage to rise above the plot.