When heading to an action movie, you expect cars exploding, gun fights and intense scenes. While “Armored” did have plenty of action, it didn’t quite reach the excitement levels I expected it to. I expected the start of the film to immediately grab my attention and help prepare me for what was to come but was disappointed to find that the movie’s beginning was slow and uninteresting.
“Armored” centers around an armored car guard crew transferring $42 million that decides it would be better to take the money, a plot that was obviously poorly thought out.
Before the stealing began, there were some not-so-subtle hints that they were going to attempt to take the money. They could have at least left the audience with the element of surprise but instead decided to drop hints throughout the beginning of the movie, making the following events rather predictable. You could easily tell that these crew members were not the good guys from the beginning.
If there was one thing that kept you interested in the movie, it was the young guard, Ty Hackett (Columbus Short) going against his fellow crew members and trying to save the life of Officer Eckehart (Milo Ventimiglia). His courage and determination to do the right thing and save Eckehart keeps the audience cheering for him. By the end of the movie I was clinging onto my seat hoping for the best outcome. I was satisfied with the ending but hoped to see a little more action and to see what happens with Hackett and Eckehart.
For all the excitement and suspense it’s easy to see the end coming. Good guys win, bad guys, well, they die. Anything else that happens doesn’t matter.
While you would expect a movie with some familiar faces such as Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno and Ventimiglia to come together for a quality film, there was a lack of good directing and acting. The majority of the film takes place inside the armored truck and manages to build up some suspense.
The acting in “Armored” was mediocre, and the majority of these actors have done better in other films. I do give praise to Ventimiglia and his role as the injured sheriff. There is not much to do there, but he did a good job with what he had, and Matt Dillon is great as the good guy gone bad. As for the rest, they all could have improved.
Director Nimrod Antal, could have done better, but perhaps it was first-time screenwriter James V. Simpson’s fault for lack of creativity, which easily gave the actors and director little to work with.
As far as action goes, each scene that involved a battle or shootout showed how poor the effects used for this film actually were. You can’t work much with a few gunshots, but then again, if that’s all the action in it, you don’t have to worry too much about your budget for effects.
The attempt to bring real life events into a movie was poorly done. Don’t get me wrong, I rather enjoyed the movie as it got more exciting, but be warned that this is a cheesy action film with little excitement until the very end.
