Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fantastic!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Plenty of action in this film. Very enjoyable. At first when I saw this film, The Sweeney were gang members, however I have since learned well today hahaha, that they are an elite Police Force. Jack(Winstone) and George(Drew) and co are called into action. I didn't get the plot at first. So that's a negative. The Opening scene is a robbery. So I thought they were the robbers, but it so happens that they are an Elite Police Force as I said earlier. Then they are then told that there's to be a big hiest in a "Non- traditional high street bank". One member of the police force is killed and hence a battle ensues. Jack is stripped of his Police Badge, and sent to prison. Its up to sexy George to break him out or at the very least to prove his innocence. So a great movie, however plot very lost. So my guess is that you'd have to have seen the TV Series. hahaha. So overall enjoyed it emmenesley. Very good. Highly recommended. Loyalty is a key player in the film.

My attention switched off half way through the film and I started doing other things. John Thaw was impossible to replace (even though I love Ray Winstone), and Carter just came across as completely dim and uninteresting. Although I love Ray Winstone I found the romantic interest a bit disturbing and completely unbelievable. I watched the whole film but as my attention kept wandering I have no idea what the conclusion of the film was and can't face watching even the second half again! I am a complete Sweeney fan and have watched the old series and films on a number of occasions but I can't say this lived up to the name. Obviously lots of money was spent on the film but it just came across as set pieces and as someone who has spent a lot of time in London, very unbelievable.

This movie follows the basic hard hitting formula that succeeded with the cult 70s TV series. Except that this time there are no Ford Granadas for Regan's team, the crims don't drive Jaguars, there is a dearth of cardboard boxes to drive into during the car chases, and there are also no sanitised punches pulled on the screen violence.It does exaggerate the "bad boy" cop theme, and the clichés come thick and fast, but somehow they get away with it.....Well, Almost. I'm still amazed that true to tradition The Sweeney clearly haven't had any firearms practice. All those bullets fired at blokes in the open, and ne'er a hit.I suspect the director had a tongue very firmly stuck in his cheek for many of the scenes, just as the original series did.I've added in an extra point for the fantastic London locations they have used throughout the movie. They could have buggered about with it and used more sets for some of the shootups but to catch Trafalgar Square empty of tourists and commuters must have taken some planning. The night shots of the London landscape are beautifully done.The plot moves along nicely, and it's a good yarn. Don't expect deep social comment or Morse-like sleuthing (see what I did there with a side reference to John Thaw!?). But you may get a hint of a discussion point in how close to the fine line between policeman and criminal can our hero and his team get while successfully bagging the villains.1970s Sweeney on steroids, and done brilliantly.

The Sweeney is an attempt to somehow capture the essence of the London Flying Squad, but in doing so it seriously loses the plot.I was reminded of the old TV Series Minder which saw over acted formulaic cliché - not something you'd expect these days perhaps.The London East End accents presumably are to improve the "realism" but in reality are so heavy and mumbled they are hard to follow. I expect no-one in North America would have a chance in following the dialog!The romantic connection between the lead role (Regan) and DC Nancy Lewis is about as far-fetched as you can get - Regan is like a battle scarred old front row rugby player, about 30 years past his best. Lewis is half his age. It was gross!Action scenes are well put together and certainly entertain, if a little far fetched - the main shoot-out has Regan firing about 50 shots from his handgun. He does reload once, to his credit... but overall these work quite well.The musical score is actually not too bad and adds to the mood. But overall not a great effort and expect to be underwhelmed.