Obviously touchpoints for Eran Creevy's **Welcome To The Punch **include Michael Mann and the Hong Kong cinema of Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, but put Heat and Infernal Affairs out of your mind for a minute. Creevy's follow-up to **Shifty **inhabits the neon candyland of Canary Wharf and the mean streets of the East End and is shaping up to be a landmark London crime movie.There's a big ol' conspiracy at play, stylistic overload, some proper car chases and absolutely no sign of Danny Dyer. Watch this behind-the-scenes piece and see for yourself.
As troubled D.I. Max Lewinsky, James McAvoy goes toe-to-toe with Mark Strong's criminal mastermind, Lord Blac... um, Jacob Sternwood, who returns to London to pick up the pieces when a heist goes awry. Strong has guns and a crew and, judging by the on-set props, McAvoy's copper has, well, a brolly.
But as McAvoy cautioned Empire, no-one should be deceived into thinking this is your average Brit crime flick. "The script didn't feel like it had the humility and humbleness of a British film. Don't get me wrong - I love British film and I love gritty, British drama, but we're not trying to go, 'This is the real world.' We're going, 'Here's a fuckin' rip-roaring, really emotionally powerful piece of entertainment,' you know?"
We're sold. **Welcome To The Punch **is in cinemas on March 15.Watch the trailer in full here.