Feb
09
Talking about heist movies like The Italian Job and Michael Mann’s Heat, which is of the best heist movies of all time, they comprise one of the most known genres of action films because of their whimsical stories and plots. Movies develop around the twists and catches of the story, and regarding heist films, the expectations for new spills, frills and thrills are at a cloud nine level. Sadly, Takers fails to meet this requirement and John Luessenhop (Director) had better expect the storm. From a personal perspective, I don’t see how this movie offered something new for the viewers of action and drama films. Other than the great cast it presented, which is wasted in this movie, nothing more memorable can be said about it.
Takers is a typical bank heist movie where a group of professional bank robbers led by Gordon Jennings (Idris Elba) were wheedled by one of their former crew member named Ghost (T.I) into a big time robbery of an armoured truck loaded with green dogs. Of course there are problems to look at in this job because of its difficulty to pull off and of the time constraints, having only five days to complete all the work to ensure its fluidity. Some members of the crew didn’t want anything to do with this job, so, naturally they took the offer. But we all know that don’t we? In these kinds of movies, money makes the world go round. Also, this movie is not void of the police as the crew was tailed by a cop with a justice call. As the movie progressed, the crew was met by betrayal and a lot of problems including the death of three of its members.
Now here comes the verdict. For someone who can stomach plot repetition, this movie is going to do just fine. But for those who have no room for repetitive movies, you’ll agree with me on this one. Poor plot, poor dialogue, and a ridiculous ending, let’s take this by part. Looking at the plot of the film, I can absolutely say that even before a scene of the heist comes in, one can already determine the next move of the main characters. It’s another one of those “I have seen this already” moments. Typical bank heists involving disguises or underground works are a thing of the past and people choose to ignore these already. Question is, why did the director choose not to deviate from this cliché? Hands down, this one is about as healthy as cancer. Now what about the overall action of the movie? Well, there are some defining moments to applaud when it comes to action like the shootout in the hotel where A.J (Hayden Christensen), one of the crew members, dies. Another is the chase down of Jesse (Chris Brown) by cop Jack Welles (Matt Dillon) where parkour was performed by the former and where Eddie (Jay Hernandez), partner of Jack, dies as well. Car crashes, explosion scenes, gun fights, crew slugging, they are all that makes this movie, and I have to give it some slack, they are believable and realistic. Impressive enough, but let’s face it, have you seen a heist movie without this kind of action? I don’t think so and I don’t think it’s original. It’s like an Ocean’s movie gone bad. Particularly with Ocean’s 13, when compared with this movie – underground work, disguises to penetrate building, robbery – you be the judge.
Surely, one cannot pass through a movie review without the traditional critique of the acting, and this movie has its own ups and downs regarding this aspect. For one – and a good one, thank God – Idris Elba’s acting as the leader of the crew proved that he has screen presence all the time. Every time the camera puts him in the frame, a bulk of the focus goes to him and his acting made a believable leader of a bank heist crew. As for Tip Harris, or more commonly known as T.I, he gave it a rookie shot on his acting. His delivery of lines and facial expression weren’t natural and were most of the times exaggerated. But then again, there’s always room for improvement, after all he’s not a professional actor, he’s a music artist! So let’s not take him to the hillbilly high of acting yet. And now, the worst part of the movie – the ending. The ending did not give any justice for the rest of the movie. Matt Dillon’s character was put to no less than nothing. He was on the trail of the crew the whole movie, his partner got killed in the chase down, he gave it a lot of effort to get the crew members behind bars as a cop with a justice call would, and somehow at the moment where he could shine, he wasn’t even able to shoot one crew member, not one, worse, he got shot and was put out of action! Jack Welles is at gunpoint with Ghost and Gordon, and then the events unfolded. Uneasy talk, shots fired, Gordon was wounded by Ghost; Ghost was killed by John (Paul Walker); where is the cop? It would have been better if the cop was given some slack and was able to hit at least one of the other characters in the film. What a waste, and from then on, the movie hanged itself.
The vibrant colour design of the movie was good; it’s not as gloomy as other heist movies. The film was shot with a Panavision Genesis HD Camera which can quite pass for action scenes, but overall, although there are some good points in the movie, I’d say it seemed like it was created for the sake of having a movie to show in cinemas – which seems to be the trend these days. It’s a given that movies ring money and fame, but please, making a movie is not all about the cash and publicity, it’s about art, let’s keep that in mind!
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