Tag: Heist Movie

Lift (2024) Film Review

Rating 12
Length 1h44
Release 12.01.2024
Director F Gary Gray
About A master thief is wooed by his ex-girlfriend and the FBI to pull off an impossible heist with his international crew on a 777 passenger flight from London to Zurich.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

The Good

Vincent D’Onofrio is incredible in whatever he is in. However, it’s hard not to love him in Lift when he’s clearly having the time of his life. Being a master of disguise, we get to see a wide range of performances from this great. You cannot fault him.

David Proud gives us typical Brit humour and it is incredible. Not only because he gives us some of the funniest moments, it’s also a long time coming having disabled representation in a film as part of the course. That’s true representation.

The heist aspect of the film is good. I mean, I’m a sucker for a heist movie so it was on to a winner there anyway. While there are aspects that are predictable, there are still aspects to this film that are delving into new and uncharted thievery.

No screaming Kevin Hart. I’ll admit, the film hit the hour mark before I lost that fear he wasn’t right for the role but he was perfect… once the action kicked in.

The Bad

Burn Gorman is one of those actors. He pops up in everything; Hollywood and home grown. His American accents come across to me a little ‘fake’ because I grew up watching him in Torchwood and I know he’s a Brit. However, this time I cannot use that. His Irish accent is not only bad, it’s patchy. There’s a scene upon his character meeting Hart’s he straight up says a line in a London accent.

The film takes a little too long to get going. The second half is much better, but it relies on you staying engaged and invested while it takes it’s slow, baby steps.

The Ugly

Why is Hollywood STILL trying to make Sam Worthington happen?! He adds nothing to any film, let alone this one.

Final Thoughts

It’s a heist film by numbers with a very pretty cast. Honestly though, if you want a good heist with heart? Invest in Leverage, not this.

Red Notice (2021)

Rating 12a
Length 1h58
Release 12.11.2021
Director Rawson Marshall Thurber (fun fact: He’s the Quiznos guy from Easy A)
About In the world of international crime, an Interpol agent attempts to hunt down and capture the world’s most wanted art thief.
Moon: Full moon sighted as Reynold’s character goes home.
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

The Good

  • It’s a pretty solid story. Not that I cared, at all. Why? Oh, I was here for the Johnson/ Reynolds dialogue. They understood the mission. Their interactions were *chef’s kiss* perfect.
    I don’t quite know what it is about these two together, but they’re dynamite. The only pairing I’d want more is Reynolds and Jackman and with both, I could have had them sitting, in a room, just reading the lines. Yes, it would be fair to say it really is down to Reynolds’ delivery of a lot of the lines, but if you’ve seen the latest in the Hitman’s Bodyguard series, you’d know that it’s more than that.
  • That said, there are some amazing action sequences, location shoots and excuses to dress up. It’s The Mummy meets Bond, by way of Danny Ocean. Its perfect for a Saturday night watch when you don’t want to think too hard.

The Bad

  • Cal Gadot almost gets there. There’s crazy in the performance, but the actress pulls it back and I really wish she didn’t. Gadot could have given us something shy of Harley Quinn and I know I’m splitting hairs, but in a film as good as this, I do have to critique something.

The Ugly

  • Green light the sequel already, you cowards!

Final Thoughts

Had everything I really needed in a movie like this, so there’s really nothing to complain about. Only thing is, this review is a little redundant as it would appear that most people have already watched Red Notice this weekend.

The Bank Job (2008)

Rating 15
Length 1h 51
Release 28.2.2008
Director Roger Donaldson
About Martine approaches Terry, a car salesman who faces serious financial issues, to form a gang and rob a bank. However, things are not as easy as they seem.

The Good

  • It’s a heist movie and checks all the boxes. There’s double crosses, bumbling coppers and scandals a plenty.
  • It’s based on true events. There’s something rather exciting about the web of scandal and corruption in the UK. Okay, names aren’t mentioned in all cases, but you can work it out.
  • There’s a pretty decent cast involved. Jason Statham, Daniel Mays and Stephen Campbell Moore all bring there A game and Saffron Burrows isn’t as annoying as she usually is.
  • The Music is a pretty decent selection of 1970s tracks.

The Bad

  • There’s so much nudity. Like from the second it starts. I’m not a prude, but I do hate gratuitous nudity. I will say, though, gratuity in this film is subjective I guess, given the content of the security boxes.
    I just felt it was ‘hey, we’ve got to have one set of tits out, so we might as well have twenty’, and I just wanted to get to the heist.

The Ugly

  • It’s a rather complex plot as there are so many people involved. Even breaking it down to the three key groups; authority, villains and Michael X is head scratching and over simplified. If you don’t engage from the first moment, you can quite easily get muddled.

Final Thoughts

It was an alright movie, but if you want a decent London bank heist where some of the people got away with the goods, check out King of Thieves.