Tense, beautifully shot and great performances from its male leads, Welcome To The Punch is more than your average British cop film and it’s an appreciated addition to the genre. November 21, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Tense, beautifully shot and great performances from its male leads, Welcome To The Punch is more than your average British cop film and it’s an appreciated addition to the genre. November 21, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review… Can’t avoid feeling like an appetizer before the real meal.

When a notorious criminal is forced to return to London, it gives a veteran detective one final chance to bring the man to justice.
Welcome to the Punch/Film synopsis

Lots of police-type violence, with guns and shooting, explosions, some blood, and various dead bodies, plus fighting and punching. The main character is shot in the leg, which causes him great pain; from time to time he’s forced to drain it of excess liquid with a hypodermic needle.

Canary Wharf
Featuring rising star Andrea Riseborough (W.E., SHADOW DANCER) and Peter Mullan (TYRANNOSAUR, WAR HORSE), the film was shot in the gleaming streets of London’s rejuvenated East End and the banking center of Canary Wharf. Executive produced by Ridley Scott, WELCOME TO THE PUNCH is a sleek modern thriller.

Not because of the storyline, no. The tale is set in a blue-tinted, modern day London. Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) is still pretty hung up over being shot by bad guy Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong) and gets his one chance at revenge when Sternwood returns to London after his son Ruan (Elyes Gabel) is shot himself and severely injured.

James McAvoy as the tortured Max Lewinsky in the not completely plausible thriller Welcome to the Punch E ran Creevy is the British director who made the very good urban drama Shifty in 2008, and this is his step up to a big commercial picture – a London crime thriller with plenty of hardware: handguns, machine-pistols, automatic rifles, the lot.

Welcome to the Punch is that film and because of that it is delightful. The film follows the events that happen when lifelong criminal Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong) returns to Britain to investigate why his son has been attacked.