Welcome to the Punch  (2013)    61/100

Rating :   61/100                                                                       99 Min        15

The most obvious and memorable thing about this film, other than it’s rather ridiculous title, which at least forewarns you of the violence you can expect to see, is that the entire film has been desaturated and colourised various shades of blue, a post-production procedure that is used ever more frequently to make work seem more ‘urban’ or gritty, but not usually to quite the excess as can be seen here. It actually works reasonably well in this scenario, and does give a very distinctive feel to the movie, although it also kind of feels like the whole film was shot around a dimly lit swimming pool. It’s a crime thriller that sees determined cop James McAvoy pitted against successful professional criminal Mark Strong in and around London, with support from Andrea Riseborough, Peter Mullan, David Morrissey, and Daniel Mays. The acting and unique look of the film are good enough to make it all right, but there’s little of any real originality or substance here, and it’s not nearly as explosive as the title suggests it might be. If the ushers punched you in the face when you walked into the screening it might be more memorable, an introduction to 4D cinema perhaps…

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