The Sweeney (2012) Reviews

• Jack Reagon / John Thaw would turn in his grave

  rob_todd12015-01-18

  I just saw this on UK TV. without doubt one of the worst films I have ever seen. The acting is largely terrible, particularly Ray Winston and plan b. How he ever got the part? Was he cheap? In particular the rip off scene from heat re done in Trafalgar Square made me cringe. I believe the budget was £3m, what was it spent on? The car chases were pathetic, as was the story line. Anyone who ever watched the original series would feel the same I am sure. This is an insult to a cult classic I'm not sure if any film could do the original,series justice, so maybe it was best left alone... Don't watch it, life is too short

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• Ten good reasons to see this film

  bernielane2013-01-27

  Here I have ten good reasons why you might want to see this movie. 1) If you want to see members of the police break the law, assault suspects and any one else they feel like just to get answers to questions and get away with it. 2) If you want to see someone who looks and talks like a fifteen year old kid taking out a room full of 15 stone 6ft 4in Serbian gangsters on his own without getting a scratch. 3) If you want to see a fat, bald, middle aged policeman having sex with a girl his daughters age. 4) If you want to see a policeman almost kill a superior officer and nothing is done about it. 5) If you want to see talent like Damien Lewis wasting his time in this role. 6} If you want to see total disregard for authority and the law that they carry on pursuing and killing the villains even after they have orders from the top to cease all operations. 7) If you want to see the direct ripped off cut and pasted version of the bank heist shoot out from Michael Mann's Heat transposed to Trafalgar Square. 8) If you want to see police officers living in places merchant bankers would struggle to pay for. 9) If you want to finally appreciate how good John Thaw and Dennis waterman were as Regan and Carter. 10) If you want to hear the line "I want your gun and your badge". Nick Love was obviously watching Dirty Harry on video when he wrote this line into the script. Those are the ten reasons someone might possibly want to watch this excuse for a movie but only if you are male, over 40, still living with your parents, on benefits, have no girlfriend, no job and collect DVD box sets for a hobby. I am none of those things but I didn't have the benefit of reading this review before I watched it. So if you still want to watch it after reading this then you maybe need to evaluate your life. One reason why you certainly wont want to see this movie 1) All 10 reasons above (bar no 9) and a dozen more besides but I don't have the time or the word limit). Don't waste your money or your time on this like I did, you will walk away feeling very empty inside.

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• What a joke compared to the 70s show

  jamesbowen-966472015-04-15

  This is a lazy pathetic remake of a classic 70s cop show the only reason it gets 1 out of 10 from is cause of Ray Winston he is credible as jack Reagan although not as good as the original Played by the outstanding John thaw he least brings him to life with his own interpretation of the character . As for the rest of the cast are weak and wooden especially the actor who played carter maybe needed a few lessons at acting school before making at an actor his wooden as a plank of wood but that can be said of the over actors who frankly don't even try and bring some life into this tepid material that would frankly suit an Steven sea-gal action flick . Overall if you like Ray win-stone then i guess check it out but if not and liked the original 70s series stick to that .

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• Shut it down, you slags

  YohjiArmstrong2015-03-09

  THE SWEENEY was a superlative 1970s cop show (with a couple of decent spin off movies). Unfortunately it's also now this underwhelming re- make which has little to recommend it beyond the title. One again we're with Regan & Carter at the Flying Squad, this time trying to bring down a gang of hardened Eastern European criminals (Albanians or Serbians I think but it doesn't really matter) in contemporary London. Ray Winstone continues his long and inglorious career playing the same role, only by this point he's lazy and fat too; when he 'shags his bird' in the loos (this is not the sort of film likely to win feminist plaudits) it's hard to know what's less believable -- that he could pull her, or that he doesn't keel over from a heart attack immediately. Various Brit thesps turn up to fill one note roles, in a fit of misguided patriotism. There's not an ounce of the wit, realism or excitement of the original series. There are a couple of nice shots of London by night, but otherwise this is a crude, stupid and unbelievable cop film that never ought to have been made in the first place.

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• Would Have Made a Decent TV Special

  cherrysuedointhedo2012-09-07

  The style of the movie largely relies on sweeping glass and steel shots of London, while they're beautifully done and almost futuristic, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was the opening scenes of The Apprentice they're so disjointed from the film itself. The Sweeney are The Flying Squad of London's Metropolitan Police, tasked with cracking down on violent crime and armed robberies. They're loud, cocky, and vicious and, if the cases we're shown are anything to go by, very, very bad at their job. Regan (Winston) is head man and a law unto himself, his sidekick Carter (Drew) and the rest of his special ops team are housed in a swish crow's nest of Scotland Yard with all mod cons. While Winston and Drew have an unmistakable chemistry on screen they really didn't have much to work with. Drew delivers his lines painfully slow, as if inebriated but you have to give it to the guy, he's not bad when it comes to fisticuffs. The gung ho ways and abysmal record of their squad attracts the attention of Internal Affairs, who are just waiting for a reason to shut them down. The wait isn't very long. England's capital is largely deserted for the duration, which again beggars belief. There's a monumental hot pursuit and shoot out on an almost empty Trafalgar Square with just enough passers by to be pushed violently to the ground by both the fleeing criminals and the cops themselves, by the third time, it was comically so. It would appear that The Sweeney have been trained at the Storm Trooper Shooting Range as London town is shot up in relentless gunfire but not one bullet reaches its target. Think Hot Fuzz not Miami Vice. The plot is convoluted, the cases needlessly complicated and for the life of me I couldn't get excited about a Serbian Georgie Burgess as the bad guy. While Nick Love is renowned for his cockney gangster offerings, unfortunately this time round he didn't think to bring either a decent story or a coherent script to the table. The Sweeney is somewhat enjoyable but it borders on parody far too often. It's outdated and overplayed with enough product placement have an accompanying catalog. It would have made a decent TV special but for a big screen outing it's a meh from me.

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