![]() ![]() ![]() He keeps a firm grasp on pace while implementing a sly mixture of edits and stylistic frames. Here, director Balagueró does a serviceable job at capturing the genre’s dashing sense of adventure as his film is a single-minded heist thriller that devotes the majority of its running time to detailing the complex plan the characters devise, the complications that arise during the way, and the thrilling heist itself split, which is split across two intense and lengthy sequences during the film’s second and third acts. But that is not the only hitch as they have only ten days to pull off the heist as the security is dispersed due to ongoing 2010 FIFA World Cup.Īll of the requisite parts of a compelling heist are here in the form of an irresistible fortune, an insanely secure location, a team of uniquely-gifted experts, an adversary in Gustavo ( José Coronado) who anticipates their every move, and at least two obstacles that make someone storm out of a meeting convinced that the whole plan can’t be accomplished. Now together with James, master of disguises Lorraine ( Astrid Bergès-Frisbey), muscle Simon ( Luis Tosar), and tech support Klaus ( Axel Stein), Walter plots to break into one of Spain’s most secure locales, to get back what he believes he rightfully owns, and for that he needs Thom to crack the impenetrable mechanism holding their goods. Unfortunately for them, their discovery immediately became the de facto property of the Spanish government, who after winning the court case against Walter, moved the treasure to the well-fortified Bank of Spain. Sometime ago, during a deep dive into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Spain, Walter’s team which also includes his second-in-command, James ( Sam Riley), an ex-special ops officer, ended up discovering a long-lost, sunken ship known as the Virgin of Guadalupe filled with treasure. But, Thom has a bit of a social and political conscience, and wants to do something exciting and enticing, something which Walter Moreland ( Liam Cunningham), a wealthy salvager and treasure hunter, promises to offer. The story follows Thom Laybrick ( Freddie Highmore), a British engineering student with a genius IQ who has everyone from Big Tech to Oil Companies chomping at the bit to offer him the world. Thankfully despite its familiarity, the film manages to keep you engaged with ease for its run time of 118 minutes that rarely feels redundant. Sure, it never seems like the film is trying to compete with something like the Oceans 11 series, but there’s little here that can be described as surprising or shocking as director Balagueró, takes an international cast through comfortingly familiar plot beats, each a slight, barely noticeable iteration on the last. Most importantly, it makes the most of its 2010 World Cup and Madrid setting. ![]() ![]() While certainly not a game changing film within the genre, it sure is a curious beast that borrows heavily from other films and puts style over substance by offering a handful of well-designed set pieces and action sequences, and a heist, which by itself takes up nearly a third of the runtime, that is intricate, tense and in the end, satisfying. Until then we are supposed to feel satisfied with the latest from director Jaume Balagueró, who cleverly revived the found footage genre with REC in 2007, who has taken up the responsibility of setting up a heist in the Southwestern European country, in the form of a handsomely mounted thriller that falls flat only when it starts to take itself too seriously. My Take – Considering its astounding success, I think I am selling it short by stating that many of us are keenly waiting to head back to Spain for the fifth part of Money Heist aka La casa de papel, the Spanish crime drama television series created by Álex Pina, which raised the bar for future entries into the heist genre. With thousands of soccer fans cheering in the streets, and security forces clo sing in, the crew has just minutes to pull off the score of a lifetime. Synopsis – When an engineer learns of a mysterious, impenetrable fortress hidden under the Bank of Spain, he joins a crew of master thieves who plan to steal the legendary lost treasure while the whole country watches the World Cup. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |