[Blu-Ray Review] ‘Welcome To The Punch'; Now Available On Blu-Ray & DVD From IFC/MPI

Welcome To The Punch [Blu-Ray]

Director: Eran Creevy

Cast: James McAvoy, Mark Strong, Andrea Riseborough, David Morrissey

Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray & DVD

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 8/10

Disc Rating: 8/10

Plot Summary:

Ex-criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London when his son is involved in a heist gone wrong. This gives his nemesis, detective Max Lewinsky, one last chance to catch the man he’s always been after.

Going in I had no real knowledge of ‘Welcome To The Punch’ aside from a few actors known to me and a mostly positive word of mouth from what little I have heard spoken about the film. What I got was a gorgeous and intense action thriller in the vein of ‘The Matrix’ in many aspects such as the green color scheme and the amount of shrapnel and debris all over the place during and in the aftermath of the gun fights. Whether you already had any knowledge of this film and were contemplating on whether or not to check it out, or if you have never even heard of it before, I highly recommend all fans of well done and stylistic action films make it a priority to check this one out. I’m fairly certain you won’t regret doing so.

‘Welcome To The Punch’ is written and directed by Eran Creevy who I was not familiar with prior to viewing, and upon looking him up it appears this was his sophomore effort at writing and directing, following a film titled ‘Shifty’ which I personally have no knowledge of but am interested in checking out to see what else this guy is capable of. Eran Creevy has officially landed on my radar and I look forward to his next film titled Autobahn which stars Zac Efron and Amber Heard. ‘Welcome To The Punch’ features a number of strong performances including James McAvoy (Wanted, X-Men First Class), Mark Strong (Kick-Ass), David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) and a few others. The performances were impressive all around but James McAvoy and Mark Strong stole the show if you ask me.

If you are looking for a beautifully filmed and well crafted action film which is a lot of fun, I would highly recommend checking out ‘Welcome To The Punch’ as soon as you are able. It has most everything going for it, including a very impressive script which really changes up the formula on typical action movies in a very clever way that really works well, and some impressive acting and directing to boot. This is one of the most pleasantly surprising films I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying in some time.

VIDEO:

The Blu-Ray release of ‘Welcome To The Punch’ is presented in a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 cinemascope aspect ratio. As is usually the case with IFC/MPI Blu-Ray releases, the video looks great. The colors are sharp, detailed, and smooth and for a film such as this you can really notice the detail in all of the beautiful scenery that is on display throughout. This is another very nice video presentation from the folks at IFC & MPI which should leave everyone pleased.

AUDIO:

The Blu-Ray release features an uncompressed 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack which sounds great. This film really presents a lot of great opportunities to fully take advantage of a lossless multichannel soundtrack and this detailed and hard hitting DTS-HD track certainly does not disappoint in any regard. Audiophiles like me should certainly have some fun with this one and should find nothing to complain about.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Special Features on the Blu-Ray include a Making of Featurette, in addition to interviews with a number of cast members and a theatrical trailer.