Welcome to the Punch Review

I have a weird fascination with James McAvoy. Call me crazy, but that guy is a pretty great actor. Just like any sane human being, every time I see him, I instantly start screaming "OH MY GOD, IT'S MR. TUMNUS!!" But seriously, this guy is a phenomenal actor, and I will watch anything he is in...and yes, that includes Gnomeo & Juliet.

Welcome to the Punch is your typical "cop out for revenge" plotline, so there isn't much here that makes you go "wow, I need to see that." It really is quite generic in it's story, which makes it hard to really recommend. The story revolves around Max (McAvoy), a cop who is obsessed with catching a notorious villain, Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong). Sounds pretty familiar right? You even get those corny pieces of dialogue like "YOU'RE TOO CLOSE TO THIS CASE!" etc. But, surprisingly, that doesn't make the movie bad, just...less good.

The story for this movie may have been generic, but for some reason it didn't feel like I was being shown something for the billionth time. I found the characters to be pretty well written, and character motivation to be pretty interesting. I was really a fan of the script up until the very convoluted ending. I feel like the ending tried to be much more than it should have been, and really failed. Other than that, the writing was pretty decent. Nothing special,  but not bad in any sense of the word.

The acting was what really held this movie together. When you have two great actors like McAvoy and Strong leading the film, it almost demands that the supporting actors bump up their performance. I thought that everyone did a very good job, which kept the movie interesting instead of bland, as I assumed it was going to be.

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While Welcome to the Punch might not be a great movie, it is definitely entertaining and worth seeing at least once. I wouldn't rush out to see it, but it would be worth picking up on RedBox, or seeing when it (inevitably) winds up on Netflix. Just watch it and fawn over the amazing-ness that is Mr. Tumnus...I mean...McAvoy.

Writing: 5/10

Directing: 5/10

Acting: 7/10

Pacing: 5/10

Rewatchability: 6/10

Score: 5.6/10