Film Review: ARMORED (ARMOURED in English) (2009)

Director: Nimród Antal
Running time: 85 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Thriller/Heist/Drama
UK release date 22nd January 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 12th February 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember this one being mentioned in dispatches when it came out, but that’s about all I remember about it. Now, having seen it I find there’s not a lot to add to that. It’s a pretty forgettable run of the mill heist thriller with a surprisingly good cast considering how average it is. But more of my thoughts later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters please look after that big pile of cash while I write the next paragraph).

Ty Hackett has recently graduated to be a security guard working for Eagle Security. They transport money in armoured trucks around the city. He is a decorated soldier having served in Iraq and has to look after his teenage brother, Jimmy, after both of their parents died. A group of his colleagues, led by Mike Cochrane, are planning to fake a heist and steal $42 million from two of their trucks. At first Ty is against the idea, but after a visit from Social Services about his brother, he changes his mind, on the condition that nobody is hurt. As they are hiding the money a homeless man is spotted spying on them and he is shot. This leaves Ty in a dilemma, should he just turn a blind eye, or should he stand by his principals? Well I guess that’s enough to whet your appetite for now.

I’ll start with what I did like… well the music wasn’t too bad and the cinematography was pretty good, and that’s just about it. As I said, there is a pretty good cast which includes; Matt Dillon as Mike Cochrane, Jean Reno as Quinn, Laurence Fishburne as the trigger-happy Baines, Amaury Nolasco as Palmer, Fred Ward as the boss, Duncan Ashcroft, Milo Ventimiglia as Eckhart, Skeet Ulrich as the cop, Dodds and Columbus Short as Ty Hackett. None of which were really stretched in this pretty average caper.

So in conclusion, it’s a rather dull and slightly predictable heist movie with the twist being it’s the guards committing the crime. There’s very little here we haven’t seen many times before. And so a very average film gets a very average score from me… Not recommended.

My score: 4.9/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0913354/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10010705-armored/
Official Site: http://www.armoredmovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi3894936089/