It's The Rozzers! Welcome to the Punch, Robocop and Gotham

I've managed to watch some DVD's recently from my Amazon subscription (what used to be LoveFilm). First up is cops-and-robbers drama, Welcome to the Punch.

After being shot by career robber Jacob Sternwood (Mark Strong), detective Max Lewinsky (James McAvoy) seizes the opportunity for revenge when the formers son is found severely wounded.

Although it has it's moments, it's a little too domestic and small scale to impress as a good crime thriller. Strong is good enough to carry the role, but McAvoy has never impressed me that much and he's not much better in this. The supporting cast is pretty good, with Johnny Harris as the main villain and Peter Mullan as Sternwood's old partner, but the plot is a little tedious and uninspired. As I've said before with The Sweeney, the Americans do it better: they've got more money.

They're not always inspired or inspiring, though, and that brings us to Robocop (the remake). After being assassinated and left for dead, detective Alex Murphy (Joel Kinneman) is transformed by a large multinational into a new kind of policeman:

I don't really have the heart to slag it off as much as others have done. True, it does lack the novelty of the original, but then that's inevitable, given our world of drone strikes and cybercrime. The production is good and the supporting cast is excellent (Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson), but Michael Keaton doesn't really impress as a villain. Perhaps that's the problem: Omnicorp isn't evil enough. Plus the original had a kind of grizzly humour, which is lacking in the remake. Clarence Bodikker (Kurtwood Smith), where are you when the film industry needs you?

Maybe it's in television? A new series has started in the 'States based on the DC Batman characters.

Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) joins the Gotham Police as a detective and is immediately struggling not only with his conscience, but survival itself:

It looks promising, with nods to the original characters such as The Penguin and The Riddler, but whether it gets too weird and/or camp remains to be seen. A good mark in it's favour is Donal Logue as Gordon's partner. His series, Terriers, was one of the best U.S. series ever made.

Apparently, it's available on Netflix.