Takers (Sony Pictures)
Gives More Than It Takes
Takers is a fast moving, well acted crime film. It holds the audiences interest from the start but loses their support at the end. What could have been one of the years best cops and robbers movies lets a weak ending spoil the effect. It ends up being just an average movie that was rife with potential.
A bank heist starts the film. It is organized by a crew headed up by Gordon Jennings (Idris Elba) and John Rahway (Paul Walker). Included in their crew are AJ (Hayden Christiansen), Jesse Attica (Chris Brown), and Jake Attica (Michael Ealy). The only person missing from their group is Ghost (Tip T I Harris) who was arrested after their last heist and went to prison.
After this latest bank job Ghost is released from prison. He comes back with plans for another job. He has made some connections while on the inside and knows this job can get them millions. Gordon thinks it is too soon to take on another job but eventually Ghost wears down his doubts and they begin planning the job.
On a side note Jake is now involved with Rachel (Zoe Saldana) who used to be involved with Ghost. This makes for some tension between the two men. Jake doesnt trust Ghost and lets the rest of the crew know it.
While this is all going on the police are investigating the bank robbery. Chief among the investigators are Jack Welles (Matt Dillon) and Eddie Hatcher (Jay Fernandez). Welles is estranged from his wife and daughter due to the fact that he lets his job control his life. Eddie has his own problems with a son who has kidney disease.
Director John Lussenhop does a good job of letting these individual stories draw you into the overall film. The more personal the stories, the more involved the audience. It seems there could be much more made of the Rachel/Jake/Ghost triangle but it remains obscure.
The action sequences in the movie are the best parts of the film. They keep you on the edge of your seat as the good guys chase down the bad guys. The ebb and flow of the crews success is well thought out and appeals to the logic of the story.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
Elba, Harris and Dillon are the strongest actors in the film with all the rest of the players creating interesting roles too. Saldanas part is no more than a cameo and Walker also has little screen time which is surprising.
If the movie had had a more thought out ending the film could have been so much better. As is, it is just a fairly interesting film with a clunker of an ending.
I scored Takers a giving 5 out of 10.
