Outcomes, not methods, matter to Detective Inspector Jack Regan (Ray Winstone, Snow White and the Huntsman). A veteran of the London police armed robbery and violent crimes unit – better known as the ‘Flying Squad’, dubbed ‘Sweeney Todd’ in Cockney rhyming slang, and referred to simply as ‘The Sweeney’ for brevity – he catches criminals without a care for the collateral damage inflicted in the chase, be it emotional, physical or legal.
In his sixth film, director Nick Love (The Firm) employs the same approach seen in his earlier work as he remakes the 1970s British television drama of the same name. His gritty modernisation, co-written with seasoned scribe John Hodge (best known for his work on Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach), is more concerned with eliciting action-driven excitement than championing cinematic artistry, resulting in a solid but far from subtle effort.
The set-up to the thrills and spills is as basic as police procedurals get, with Regan’s squad tracking a spate of high-end burglaries seemingly linked to a known suspect (Paul Anderson, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) with a perfect alibi. Interpersonal exploits jeopardise the investigation: Regan’s affair with colleague Nancy Lewis (Hayley Atwell, Captain America: The First Avenger) is discovered by his protégé George Carter (Ben Drew, Harry Brown), just as Nancy’s internal affairs agent husband (Steven Mackintosh, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) draws unneeded scrutiny – and the questions of unit chief Frank Haskins (Damian Lewis, TV’s Homeland) – to Regan’s unorthodox practices.
Ram raids, car crashes, police pursuits and shoot-outs follow, as The Sweeney allows violence to dominate its 112 minutes. Each frenetic set-piece is compiled in slick genre fashion, with the film favouring style and chaos over substance and credibility. Of course, in adhering to action aesthetics and assembling every known cop trope, there remains little room for nuance in the story or character development. But despite lacking depth, as a brutal, brazen contemporary police thriller, the film still entertains.
As the film’s focal point, Winstone delights in the down and dirty nature of his protagonist and the directness of the material, obviously relishing the terse tough-guy exchanges. At his side, the affable rapper-turned-actor Drew (aka Plan B) and attractive Atwell’s sole purpose is to humanise his old-school heroics, and although both are wasted in bit-parts, it works. Indeed, from the grey colour scheme to the overuse of establishing city shots, there’s much about the feature that’s merely cursory but still competent. The means of Love’s choices may not justify the ends, but The Sweeney remains more than serviceable.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
The Sweeney
Director: Nick Love
UK, 2012, 112 min
In cinemas February 14
Distributor: Hoyts
Rated MA
Actors:
Director:
Format:
Country:
Release:
