Sweeney 2

This film is rarely shown and so it was a treat to watch it the other day. The first thing you notice is the liberal use of the f-word which probably did the film no favours in the 1970's as the TV series was watched, in the main, by under 15's. In fact the general level of violence has been greatly increased in this film spin-off, especially towards the end when the shootings, explosions and subsequent body count goes off the scale.

There are also liberal views and references to women's breasts (a nod towards the predominantly male audience). However, the old formula of the tv series that enderes it to so many 20-30 somethings still permeates the film. This includes car chases, scraps, extremely non-PC moments, and amusingly comic overtones, especially the odd scene where the bomb squad and sweeney have a booze-up in a hotel knowing that a device is being defused in one of the rooms (an incident that today would plaster the front pages of the newspapers for months afterwards). Reagan and Carter are a brilliant double act and their supporting colleagues (especially the scruffy, nose picking, Welsh DC Jellyneck) give an air of "Keystone cops" to the whole film. Mention must be made of the dreadful 70's fashions that always added to the enjoyment and interest of the series. Lots of famous supporting cast including Denholm Elliot in a small role as a corrupt ex chief inspector.

Before he was taking down on corruption charges, Judd had assigned DI Regan the case of a gang of bank robbers. With Judd out of the picture, the Flying Squad keep the case as a mark of respect – just as the robberies become more violent than ever, with the latest getaway leaving a trial of bodies in their wake. With precious few leads, Regan and his team get to work, all too aware that it is only a matter of time before the gang strike again.

In a way Life on Mars has helped and hindered The Sweeney for viewers looking back on it with little knowledge of it the first time around. I was far too young for the series when it was aired and never bothered with it when it was repeated later in our multichannel world. Life on Mars has affectionately referenced the world of The Sweeney and this has meant that, although I am now aware of the genre, I'm also less likely to take it as seriously as it was intended. However watching this film it is evident that The Sweeney didn't take itself too seriously either and it appears to be enjoying its 70's excess and tough non-PC characters just as much as Life on Mars did. The air of humour is obvious but it doesn't take away from the tough tone that the majority has to it.

Of course this is not to say that the film itself is much cop and personally I didn't think much of it once the fun retro novelty of the film had worn off. The plot is a bit too thin to stretch to the feature-length running time and the strain does show at many points. This also means that it moves too slowly at times and loses the sense of urgency that it has in its better moments. The cast offer little but the touch male of the period. Looking back it is odd to see Thaw, Waterman, Elliott, Hawthorne and others in this type of role but, within the context of this film, they do enough to carry it.

Like my fellow reviewer Theo already said though, at least it does seem to be common with the original tone of the series, for better or worse. The novelty value got me into it and the touches of humour and tough style were more or less sufficient to make it entertaining, but regardless it is what it is.

Thaw and Waterman return to their famous roles in this theatrical sequel. This time Detectives Regan and Carter are tracking a group of bank robbers who always nab £100,000 and leave any amount over that in the getaway car. Regan is able to crack the case thanks to his Flying Squad team and some help from his corrupt, imprisoned former Chief (Denholm Elliott). This is a lot darker that SWEENEY! but still features some humor (mostly with Regan spouting off on hapless underlings). Like the first film, there are some shockingly violent set pieces. The only odd bit is a 15-minute detour where the boys go to a hotel to disarm a bomb. It is completely pointless, appears midway through, and reeks of something shot afterward to pad out the film's running time.

In my review of the television series I mentioned that THE SWEENEY has its episodes split between " comedy " episodes and " violent " episodes and after seeing the two film versions of the show this theory certainly holds up . The first SWEENEY film was a gritty political thriller with a high body count while the second film features a lot of humerous moments like the big John appeal box , " Remember- rubber is recyclable " , " When I said you couldn`t organise a p*ss up at a brewary George I was wrong " and there`s a running gag involving driver Robert Soames . That`s not to say that this film should be classed as a black comedy , just that it contains darkly comic moments like the original series did .

As has been noted the plot which involves a quasi fascist bunch of bank robbers could have easily have been made as a one hour episode ( And the film seems to have the budget of a one hour television episode ) but at least - Unlike the film versions of LOST IN SPACE and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - this film resembles the television show it`s based upon

The second and final Sweeney movie has eventually been released in high definition and it was worth the wait. As someone who has only recently watched all of The Sweeney TV serious it was a surprise to hear that they released a number of movies.

The first film was very good if obviously a bit more bloody than the TV series. The question is whether the second lives up to the first?

The story? Well its a Sweeney story so it obviously involves bank robbers. The twist here is that this time its robbers who live abroad and come back to rob in London. So that is where Sexy Beast nicked their story from.

In this film there is a bit more sex and swearing including a few F bombs dropped which is surprising to say the least. The story however isn't as tight this time around, it takes longer to get going and there are a few sub plot parts which don't really add to the story, they feel like padding. If you are a Sweeney fan then its right up your street, the only other downside is that they seem to be guilty of recycling actors from the series which is a bit strange when you are expected to forget they played other characters in the Sweeney Universe. The finale in this one however is much better than the first film, which seemed to end on a weird scene. There is also something else a bit odd with both movies and that is the relationship between the two main characters, Regan is definitely Regan but George doesn't really behave the same way as he does in the series?

If you like the TV Sweeney you will love the Cinema Sweeney. These are great stand alone films regardless of whether you have seen the series, but I can see someone who hasn't seen the series binging on them after catching up with the movies. While Life On Mars was decent, this is better and the real reason LOM was popular in the first place.