Armored [DVD] [2010]

What do you get when you take a classic b-movie premise - a group of security guards try to hijack one of their own trucks only for one man to lock himself inside and try to keep them from the money - give it a decent cast and remodel it as a typical hard-edged 'guys' Friday night movie from the 70s? In the case of Nimrod Antal's Armored, rather less than you might hope. It's the kind of film that's not bad, just a bit flat until the last half hour despite a very short running time, which perhaps isn't altogether surprising given the director's track record. US-born Antal made his name in Hungary with 2003's Kontroll, but his American ventures haven't been so lucky - this went straight to video in many territories after bombing in America while Predators failed to live up to expectations.

The rather shopworn leads (Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishbourne, Jean Reno and Fred Ward among them) are familiar enough to smooth over some basic characterisation while they never made it big enough to be unconvincing as down on their luck blue collar workers, which works in the film's favour. Their dialogue doesn't exactly sparkle, but the biggest problem is that apart from Matt Dillon and Columbus Short, none of the cast become characters in the first half of the movie: they're just guys in security uniforms played by familiar faces. It's not until things start going wrong that they start developing some distinctive personality as the stress starts to get to them - with one noticeable exception: Jean Reno. Despite his second billing and being the biggest worldwide star in the cast, it's something of a mystery why he took the part because there really isn't a part there. He has no character, little dialogue, virtually nothing to do and barely even gets any close-ups. He's just there in the background or on the edge of the frame in scenes in a part that could easily have been played by a bit player and credited as 'Security Guard Number Five.' Even the ill-fated red shirts in the old Star Trek TV series had more to do.

Still, once the film hits its stride as the heist goes wrong and the body count starts to rise, as is inevitably the case in every movie heist that includes the words "Nobody gets hurt," it turns the corner and starts to ratchet up the tension and throw in some good twists. Sticking your hero in a hole and watching his every attempt to dig himself out of it is usually a foolproof set-up for a thriller, and Columbus Short manages to make his conflicted war hero, doggedly protecting $42m for the bank that's trying to take away his house, a likeable enough character to root for as Dillon becomes convincingly more ruthless. But if only the first half was stronger and the rest of the cast better developed it could have paid off much bigger than it does.

The extras package is okay but not outstanding - audio commentary with producer Dan Farah and supporting players Skeet Ulrich and Milo Ventimiglia (neither of whom have a great deal of screen time in the film) and a trio of short featurettes, although the trailer (which gives away the opening setpiece completely) is missing - while the disc has a decent 2.35:1 widescreen transfer.

A bunch of guys, who work for a living protecting cash in transit on security trucks (including huge stars Larry Fishbourne, Jean Reno and Matt Dillon) decide to rob there own load, and earn millions in the process.

A good set up, with a good cast is sadly wasted in what starts out to be promising, but ends up very, very bland.

In true heist movie fashion it all goes wrong, and the characters shout, argue and eventually turn on each other (and some innocents that get roped into the situation).

This is not a bad film, it really does have potential, but to have such a cast of actors, and to give them so little back story, or character is a waste.

The plot shifts almost too quickly, and what comes across as a bunch of descent guys in the first thirty minutes turn on each other very quickly by the second half of the film without much justification.

With some more background story, and attention to each character, this could have been a little gem of a film (the set up and writing is not bad).

In terms of look and feel, it is filmed well and sometimes stylish, with the odd moment of coolness.

On the real plus side, the film is short (80 odd minutes), and in that time does deliver some descent action scenes and a few bits of entertainment (including explosions,fights, and a very good truck chase scene).

Sadly it has all been done before, and very much better, but if you want some brain in neutral action movie thrills, then this just about holds its own, but is a wasted chance given the story idea and cast.

Ty Hackett, a veteran of the Iraq war returns home to care for his younger brother after his parents succumb to illness. Struggling with debt and his brother's occasional strays onto the wrong side of the tracks, he reluctantly agrees to join his workmates in robbing the security truck they guard daily, on condition that no one is harmed of course. Obviously, his mates turn out to be a thoroughly nasty crowd, and the heist quickly turns into a blood bath, causing Ty to break ranks and work against them.

Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne and Jean Reno amongst others add some meat to the proceedings, and relative unknown Columbus Short plays the lead role of Ty (reminding greatly of a young Cuba Gooding Jr). Only Dillon puts in a strong performance, the others being merely passable. The film is strictly for the guys, the only female part being the miserable boiler who threatens to take Ty's brother into care.

Nimród Antal does a reasonable job of extracting some excitement, although there are a few silly flaws in the script that detract. Firstly, an awful lot happens in the short time limit the gang have before their scheduled radio contact with the controller back at base, when their employers would be alerted to trouble. Secondly, the character of the policeman who becomes involved is severely under utilised; we're introduced to him earlier in the film as if he may have a large part to play, but in fact he just becomes something for Ty to drag around, and generates about as much interest as a sack of potatoes. The film's short running time of 88 minutes is just enough to avoid it out staying its welcome.

BRD production is pretty good; sound goes deep, especially in the thumping music cues, and the image is strong with good detail. There's a good choice of languages and subtitles too, along with some docs and BD live material. I'm just not sure anyone would find enough in the movie itself to justify ownership over rental.