The Sweeney was originally a British television police drama starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, and aired throughout the 1970s. Seeing as I'm not my Dad, I can safely say that I've never sat through one of its episodes, nor do I ever intend to. From what I've heard, the show was a true product of its time. It was a violent, edgy drama that pushed the boundaries of what could be shown on television, something the BBC had largely whitewashed up to that point.
This then makes it somewhat confusing that the show would be moved to the present day in this newest incarnation of The Sweeney. With heavy violence being on display in pratically every theatrical release nowdays, it makes it seem odd to dig up old property with little relevance to today's society. But the plot deals with that. Kind of.
The premise is Ray Winstone and his chums (including Ben Drew, a.k.a Plan B) are old fashioned coppers who punch first and ask questions later. It's as if they're transported straight from the 70s, with their heavy swearing and misogynistic banter. Yet the twist is that new policing methods and protocols (in the form of the often underrated Steven Mackintosh) are intruding in on their old-fashioned sense of justice, threatening to shut it down for good.
Ray Winstone takes on the title roll of Jack Regan with much needed grit and machismo, the kind we've been seeing in Ray for his entire career. It makes you wonder whether they even gave him a script - maybe the director just told him where to go and he took it from there. Plan B is also quite good, and if the critics are to be believed his directing debut Ill Manors is very good too, making him a talent to keep a keen eye on.
The film itself isn't too bad, but nothing to shout about. Much of the plot is dull and clichéd, and seems to lack much needed pace at times (although the car chases and shootout sequences are undeniably thrilling). Also, the characters, who I'm sure were intended to be cheeky and fun, more often than not come across as plain childish, with a sense of humour shared only by teenagers. And I don't believe I'm the only one who found Ray Winstone's sex scenes to be absolutely disgusting.
But it is a competent and entertaining action movie, despite its unpleasantries. Yes, it's clichéd, but at least it manages to pull it off in style. And Ray Winstone punching people while making gravelly-voiced cockney threats will never cease to be fun.
