If Michael Caine wasn’t in Harry Brown, it wouldn’t work. Bear in mind, I’m not saying that it DOES work, but if it does, it is only because Caine is reprising his role in Get Carter in spirit even though it is an entirely different movie. There was something very American about this film even though it took place in Britain. Pure revenge. The thugs and atmosphere seemed utterly over the top. The main problem of the movie is that it wasn’t as committed as it should have been to focusing on the titular character and occasionally strayed focus by following the police, which weren’t as strong a counterpoint as Caine’s character. Just another revenge movie with the theme that they had it coming. If they showed even a slice of nuance and realism like Attack the Block in addressing the character of the criminal underworld while still making them unsympathetic, the movie would have been less uneven. The film’s strength, when not focusing on Caine, is when it shows the criminal acts through cell phone footage or on the television. It adds a sense of urgency and gravity to otherwise absurd situations. I hope that someone uses the same environment, particularly the underground walkway/tunnel, in the future because there was a nugget of awesome in that imagery that fell flat.