Action thriller packs a punch

Film Review: Welcome to the Punch (15)
Running time 100 minutes
Rating:****
British action thrillers have long had the unfortunate reputation of being heavy on acting skills and technical know-how, but light when it comes to money spent on production costs such as good computer-generated graphics and first-class locations.
It is a tag earned over many years of making entire movies in this country for the sort of money Hollywood spends on catering.
You know the kind of thing – wobbly sets, locations that you know are five miles from the studio in Buckinghamshire, and extras scattered about, looking in amazement at the pitifully small pay cheque for a hard day’s work, or sitting around.
Still, every now and then, something comes up to break the mould and Welcome to the Punch is one of them.
The silly title of this polished and gripping crime thriller should not put you off, because it is really rather good – so long as you ignore the fact that embittered detective Max Lewinsky (played by James McAvoy) looks about 20 years too young for his character.
Lewinsky has been on the trail of top criminal Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong) for years, until finally he chases him down after a robbery, only to be shot by the aforementioned Sternwood.
Despite his injury, he is kept on the force, working with some right idiots and when Sternwood’s son turns up shot, Max senses an opportunity to get his revenge.
Meanwhile, Sternwood has retired to a log cabin but dutifully sets out to find the people who did for the son and heir.
There is much chasing, reasonable detective work, and a few twists and turns, mainly involving dodgy policemen, psycho ex-army security men and a plot to turn Britain’s honest bobbies into gun-toting street soldiers.
It all combines to produce a good film by writer and director Eran Creevy, photographed with panache and suitably gloomy atmosphere by Ed Wild, and provides 100 minutes of thrills and spills that stand good comparison with some recent efforts created Stateside at five times the price.
Strong, who has made a good career out of being the baddie, turns in a silent-but-deadly performance, while McAvoy tries hard to belie his youthful looks. For anyone keen to see yet more confirmation that British filmmakers can still cut the mustard, Welcome to the Punch is highly recommended.