On Blu Ray and DVD - "The Sweeney" - Solid production values and a smoldering performance from Ray Winstone can't quite save this British cops-n-robbers flick from a garbled, cliched-to-a-fault script. Based on a popular UK TV show of the same name that ran from 1975 to 1978, it feels like Cliff's Notes for a more substantial, fleshed out work. A few shockingly stupid moments and a woefully miscast Ben Drew (a British Rapper known as "Plan B") as an up and coming supercop doesn't help matters in the least.
Taken from Wikipedia.org - "The film's title derives from "Sweeney Todd", which is Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad", a real life branch of the Metropolitan Police force specializing in armed robbery and violent crime in London." - That this special police force shows up to an armed robbery in progress with the majority of it's officers armed with only axe handles and baseball bats will boggle the mind. This bit of ridiculous nonsense occurs twice in the film and I must admit that I was done with it as a serious bit of entertainment from there on. Whoever dreamed this kind of crap up shouldn't be allowed to write in the genre ever again. It's just that stupid.
Ray Winstone (The Departed) plays Detective Inspector "Jack Regan"- the kind of grizzled, old-school, hard-nosed cop we all love to watch beat the hell out of and ultimately blow away the bad guys. The veteran actor is very good here and I found it increasingly frustrating that his character wasn't featured in a better script- it's a missed opportunity in the grand scheme of memorable ass kickers.
Ben Drew is Regan's sidekick and protege who never fits the part in any way, shape or form. He's a blank-faced bit of worthlessness that I hope never gets a serious role again.
The lovely and talented Hayley Atwell (Captain America: First Avenger) portrays a member of the squad and Regan's love interest while Damian Lewis (HBO's Band Of Brothers) is wasted as the Chief Inspector of the force- Lewis is barely in the film and his character's motives and alliances are often difficult to follow when he does pop up.
Steven Mackintosh (Underworld: Evolution) is a determined Internal Affairs Agent looking to bring down The Sweeney- although his character is unaware that Regan is sleeping with this wife (Atwell), he's hell-bent on nailing the crew for no apparent reason other than that's what Internal Affairs agents are expected to do...
A mid-film bank robbery should have been rearranged to end the film- you'll be amazed at the overall poor marksmanship of the so-called professionals on both sides of the law. There is a decently staged car chase to close out the picture, though too many characters and situations are of the cookie-cutter variety in between the action segments to give the narrative any kind of pulse or momentum. The musical score does get a bit unnerving, almost forcefully trying to make you to care.
Winstone chews scenery with the best of 'em, the film is nice to look at and a couple of action sequences are rather impressive, though I couldn't quite get past the overwhelming feeling of "been there and done that" that permeates the entire film. Only those desperate for a quickie action fix should check it out- others should skip it.
5.5 out of 10
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