The Sweeney

A rough, tough, and excellently atmospheric British film with balls, a very rare thing. The action is surprisingly skillful (fantastic sound, gunfights like in Heat), the main characters are likeable, and basically, you realise that you're watching with suspense to see how it all ends. Ray Winstone and his team entertained me exceptionally. Essentially, it's a boys' film where the right guys full of the right values shine, so some viewers looking for something different likely won't understand, but for the majority, it will be a solid action flick. Excellent combination of old-school crime thriller and simultaneously modernly conceived hi-tech action film. (30.06.2013)

Nick Love’s movies are probably not my cup of tea. At least this one is the most accessible one, as it is a rather rough gangster movie, where the best thing is Ray Winstone knocked down by life. Technically, I cannot say a beep. The final car chase was amazing, but the storyline would deserve a proper knock-out punch to the face. It is not so great being excited about some scenes and falling asleep during the rest. (17.05.2015)

A fairly good British crime thriller. At first I was quite annoyed by the unnatural roughness, but I got used to it after a few minutes. Fortunately, there’s always something happening, the film is sufficiently gripping and action packed that it doesn’t leave time for questions like “Does the script make any sense? Could that really have happened that way?” and so forth. It’s reliably fun the first time, but I doubt there’ll be a second. (12.01.2013)

A British action blockbuster that today’s American productions come nowhere near to. Old school combined with a new approach, beautifully naturally in a decent story about the Flying Squad. Ray Winstone has a beer gut, but charisma literally oozes from this ultimate tough guy. Hayley Atwell is perfect. Fans of Homeland will be pleased with Damian Lewis in several scenes. The end doesn’t prevent a sequel emerging, so I hope we get one. P.S.: Better than Sucker Punch. You're nicked. (05.05.2013)

Ray "a couple of years back I would have been ideal for this role" Winstone and Ben "Tom Hardy couldn’t make it, so they called me and at least gave me a Hardy haircut" Drew in a reincarnation of the island genre classic that in the seventies started off and set a standard for all those dirty, uncompromising crime movies about corrupt cops who don’t shy from making some money on the side, are always ready for a fight and if somebody happens to ask any questions, their knuckles are always scuffed and bloody already from manual questioning techniques. The sad thing is that now, about forty years later, the authors couldn’t even achieve the original standard; not to speak of the fact that thanks (not only) to The Shield or Spiral the standard is now completely different. And also they are trying so hard to be rough and tough that it’s sometimes ridiculous. Even taking a sip of morning coffee is delivered here like the toughest act on the planet Earth. And it’s all the more of a shame because under the surface there is a natural, unashamed toughness, no denying. It’s just lost under that cheap “we’re tougher than anybody else" game. (05.10.2013)