Heist films have been a genre that has yielded some truly amazing movies. The recent THE ITALIAN JOB, RONIN and more, even the Pink Panther series, have given us moments where we root for the bad guy in his attempt to pilfer the goods from an even worse bad guy or banker. And now we have a new entry, ARMORED.
I must admit that when I saw the preview for this film (over and over again it seemed) I had no interest in it. Even as I put it in the DVD player I wasn’t expecting much. Perhaps this is why I was so pleasantly surprised.
The film focuses on a group of armored car drivers, friends in the field. New to the group is Ty Hackett (Columbus Short). Ty was a decorated war hero in Iraq who returned to a home where his parents had both died and he was not responsible for his younger brother Jimmy.
Working with Ty is Mike Cochrone (Matt Dillon), Ty’s godfather and mentor at the company. Through Mike, Ty got the job he now has as well as friends like Baines (Laurence Fishburne), Quinn (Jean Reno), Palmer (Amaury Nolasco) and Dobbs (Skeet Ulrich). This group welcomes Ty with open arms and a sense of brotherhood.
On a regular run, the armored vehicle containing Ty and Mike and driven by Baines shorts out. Mike smells sugar in the gas tank burning and they know it’s a set up. A black van pulls up, two men place explosives on the window and as it is about to go off a few firecrackers explode leaving Baines and Mike laughing. It was nothing more than an initiation prank on Ty who has passed his probationary period.
Mike gives Ty rides to and from work and one night not long after the prank, he tells Ty they have a solution to his money problems (he’s about to lose his home). They plan to make the robbery real. The men guarding the money plan on a heist that would take in $42 million and expect him to be a part of the operation. Ty at first refuses but after returning home to find a social worker ready to take Jimmy form him, he agrees, as long as no one gets hurt.
The plan moves along like clockwork, the team loading the money and then heading to an abandoned steel factory where they plan on hiding the money and then making it look as if they were hijacked and the money stolen. But as with all good plans, things go wrong when a bum hiding in the plant sees them. As he tries to get away, Baines shoots him in the back.
Ty has had enough. He attempts to help the man but Mike shoots the bum in the back making sure he’s dead. Ty no longer recognizes these men as who he thought they were and takes one of the two armored vehicles they came in to get away. He’s stopped by Mike in the other but then locks himself in with the load of cash in the vehicle. Now the men change from simple thieves to murderers who want nothing less than to get Ty and the money out.
While they do so, a police car with an officer (Milo Ventimiglia) shows up. When Ty uses a battery to make the siren on his vehicle go off, Baines shoots the policeman as well. Now the group faces not just murder charges but the possible death of a policeman as well. But he’s not dead and Ty risks a move to rescue him and get him inside the vehicle with him.
The cat and mouse game of how to get Ty out, how Ty gets help and whether or not these men will get away with murder and the cash makes for a high speed thriller that delivers on all levels. The most amazing thing to me was that as I watched I found myself surprised that it moved along so quickly. I lost track of time and never once felt like the film dragged at any point.
The film is a perfect combination of story, special effects and performances that make you truly believe these men are who they claim to be. Their motivations, their passions and their brutality are demonstrated by each individual as the film draws to its dramatic ending.
If you’re looking for a film that offers adrenaline pushing moments and a hero to boot, then make a point of picking this one up. It’s not a rental only film but one that movie fans might want to even add to their collection.
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