Takers (PG-13)
Mike:
Mike: Tonight we are reviewing Takers
about a crew of bank robbers who decide to do one more giant score.
Takers is entertaining, but has been done better in other similar movies. This movie starts out promising, but ends as a bit of a mess. The movie has a great cast, but you’re not sure if you should be rooting for the bad guys or the good guys. Frankly, the bad guys may be more interesting.
The movie has one thing that really bugs me. It’s the shaky cam every time there is a chase or a fight scene. On the other hand, there are a number of scenes that look like they are cut from a music video or a perfume commercial.
The film has a lot of testosterone. In fact there are only two women in the movie that I can remember. In fact, I’m not even sure why Zoe Saldana is in this movie. Yes she is beautiful, but she is barely in the film. It’s a waste, because her role could have been played by anyone. Speaking of the men, there is a pretty handsome bunch here. You may not know all their names, but you will recognize them.
Idris Elba is the leader Gordon. He will be familiar to viewers of The Office as well as a few recent films. Michael Ealy will look familiar as well. We also get music starsT.I. and local Chris Brown. Brown actually gets a great chase scene that is very reminiscent of the one in the beginning of Casino Royale. Rounding out the gang are Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen. It’s funny that they are similar looking enough to confuse you throughout the movie. It was hard for me to remember that Walker was not a cop in this movie after his run in the Fast and the Furious movies.
Matt Dillon and Jay Hernandez play the cops trying to solve the bank robbery. I hate to say it, but between Dillon’s role in Something About Mary and the similar looks of his brother’s Johnny Drama , I was distracted .
One thing this movie has over the generic heist movie is an attempt at characterization. The guys on both sides have families and problems outside of just the cops and robbers story. Unfortunately, they are not as charming as some of the others that have gone before them. Even with the back stories, I wasn’t charmed by these guys the way I was with Oceans 11 or The Italian Job. As a matter of fact the heist isn’t as clever as these either. The bank robbery at the very beginning of the movie is clever and shows promise. Unfortunately, the main heist that the movie centers around is not nearly as clever or even well thought out.
What do I give this? I give it a 2.5 out of 5 for overall and a 2 for action movie. Takers is decent summer entertainment, but this kind of movie has been done better before.
