'Armoured' is a heist-gone-wrong movie

Rajeev Masand , CNN-IBN
Posted on Feb 05, 2010 at 23:44 | Updated Mar 29, 2010 at 14:38

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Cast: Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Amaury Nolasco, Fred Ward

Director: Nimród Antal

Armored starring Matt Dillon is a heist-gone-wrong movie that, ironically enough goes terribly wrong in its final minutes.

A bunch of talented actors including Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Skeet Ulrich, Columbus Short and Dillon himself star as disgruntled security guards on a fleet of armored trucks carrying millions of dollars. Stuck in that low-paying, dead-end job, surrounded by all that money but none of it theirs, the group decides to hijack their own vehicles and pocket the 42 million-dollar payload. All goes according to plan until the straight-arrow rookie Ty (played by Short), an Iraq war veteran, decides he wants out when an innocent bystander is killed in this operation. The group won't let him walk, so he locks himself and the money inside one of the trucks while the rest figure out how to tear through the armored vehicle.

Simplistic in its premise, most of the film unfolds in an abandoned warehouse, and in real time. It's watchable because it's a believable story about ordinary guys who think they can get away with their crime without spilling any blood. When things go wrong however, they reveal just how desperate and dumb they are.

Armored isn't exactly an edge-of-the-seat thriller, but there are some tense moments as you watch Ty use his war skills to protect himself and the cop who happens to chance into the warehouse. It's in the last act that it all becomes totally preposterous for the sake of a compromised hopeful ending that doesn't ring true at all.

Nevertheless, it's an easy one-time watch if you don't set your expectations too high. Two-and-a-half out of five for Armored; it's not a bad option on a day you have nothing better to do.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

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