Starring: Ray Winstone, Ben Drew, Hayley Atwell, Damien Lewis, Paul Anderson
Director: Nick Love
Rating: 3/5
The Sweeney was one of the most loved seventies TV series while Jack Regan and George Carter are two of the great cop characters of all time - and now it is time to get a big screen 21st Century makeover.
And for the most Nick Love and co have succeeded as these characters and the idea that sometimes you have to act like a criminal to catch a criminal are brought to a new generation.
Detective Inspector Jack Regan (Winstone) and his loyal partner George Carter (Drew) are old school crime fighters enforcing the law in a modern world.
Armed and dangerous, the Flying Squad have their own unique way of operating, however, they always get the results.
With a bank heist in progress and his old enemy making a re-appearance on the London crime scene, Regan will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Ok first and foremost you have to accept this movie for what it is - a British action flick that is about car chases, gun battles and catching the bad; and it really does deliver on all of those aspects.
The Sweeney is face past and action packed as the Flying Squad find themselves stopping a warehouse raid, bank heist and get into a gun battle in the middle of Trafalgar Square.
However what is perhaps seriously missing from the film is more of Regan and Carter together as Winstone and Drew have real potential to be a fantastic pairing.
Winstone is the driving force behind this movie as he delivers a great turn as the no nonsense Regan who just wants to get the job done and the criminal behind bars.
Regan is depicted as quite a lost human being who only really has his job in his life - and that is something that would be great to see explored in further movies.
Ben Drew is also well cast as George Carter - the young family man who has a really dark side; which does come out towards the end of the movie.
The banter and the relationship between the pair works really well I would have just loved to have seen much more of it.
There are great supporting turns from Hayley Atwell and Damien Lewis but you do feel that their talent is vastly underused.
With The Sweeney you get exactly what you expect to get and while Love doesn't re-invent the wheel with this movie it is a solid action flick that sets the foundation for what has the potential to be a great franchise.
The plot needed to perhaps be a little tighter and suspenseful but the characters and the action were spot on - not to mention London looked fantastic!
The Sweeney is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in The Sweeney Ray Winstone Nick Love Ben Drew