This one mystifies me a bit. Judging from the cast--James McAvoy, Mark Strong, Andrea Riseborough, Peter Mullan, David Morrissey, Jason Flemyng, and Ruth Sheen, among others--one might expect an award caliber, prestigious English drama or at least a high-end genre film, but this London set police-and-thieves action film is at best an unspectacular B grade entertainment. Beneath the pulse pounding score and the ice-blue urban photography, it is standard-issue fare long on plot with a capital p (contrived twists, turns, and betrayals upon betrayals), but short on theme and actual character. The fantastic cast try hard (Strong and Mullan in particular are riveting as pro thieves with a long-term friendship), but they must combat uninteresting storytelling at almost every turn, and the result is a mixed bag which is easy to watch, but will not linger in the mind long.

C+

Welcome to the Punch

Not an awful film, just an inspiring one, which suffers from a lack of focus from an inexperienced director. The story isn't as important or as broad as the director-writer, Evan Creevy, believes it to be. James McAvoy gives a good performance, superbly showing off his acting range with his more low-level London accent. Mark Strong pretty much sleepwalks through this film, though. Andrea Riseborough is a good actress, but not really given much material here.

Welcome to the Punch is a let down from what one would expect when seeing its known cast and modernistic marketing.

C+