Armored (Screen Gems)
Pure Entertainment
Every once in a while you go to see a movie not expecting it to be better than average and it surprises you. Such is the case with Armored. This is a crime thriller that is pure entertainment from beginning to end. It isnt going to win any awards and it surely wont be remembered for very long, but it does have solid acting and a rush to the end plot.
In the film Ty Hackett (Columbus Short) works for a security company. He is part of a team that operates armored cars to pick up bank deposits, etc. He is barley making it on his salary since both his parents have died in the past year. They left him a house that has two mortgages on it, and a younger brother to care for. Now the authorities are threatening to place his brother Jimmy (Andr Kimmel) in foster care.
So Ty is not completely adverse to a plan to steal some money, and this is what his co-worker Mike (Matt Dillon) proposes. His whole team is in on the deal. This includes Baines (Laurence Fishburne), Quinn (Jean Reno), Palmer (Amaury Nolasco) and Dobbs (Skeet Ulrich).
What ensues once the group makes their plan forms the basic plot of the movie. The heist, the hiding of the money and the violence that follows all make for nail-biting tension and excitement. There is not one slow moment in the entire movie.
Short makes a solid hero figure and all of his actions are believable. Fishburne plays the main villain and he is totally evil and unpredictable. Dillon is supposedly another good guy but he makes his character easily swayed by the lure of the money. Jean Reno plays another partially good guy who is turned bad by the cash.
Milo Ventimiglia has a small role as a cop who thinks there is something suspicious going on, and investigates. Ulrich and Nolasco play men who should know better but dont act on their best instincts.
The film is rated PG-13 for violence and profanity.
Armored is tightly directed by Nimrod Antal. He knows how to pace his movie in order to make it speed by with the audience hanging on every frame of film. There is barely time to catch your breath between action events and suspenseful moments.
Armored is a movie that is much better than you expect it to be. It is a crime caper with solid plotting, earnest acting, and enough suspense and violence to get your adrenaline rushing. You will be solidly entertained for the length of the film.
I scored Armored an impenetrable 6 out of 10.
