Armored - 3.5/5

"Armored" is one of those films that, by all means, should have been straight to DVD. Looking at the script, one could see potential within its confines but rarely could see above its rather cliche attempt at creating a memorable heist movie. Luckily, "Armored" does get some good treatment in the form of a solid fucking cast and a classy up-and-coming director.

I'm not sure why the film companies behind this little film decided to go with it. It's not flashy enough with its action nor Oscar worthy enough with its drama to really make a lot of money in theaters. But I'm glad that it went through, cause "Armored" probably deserves more praise than its been getting. Unfortunately, most of today's audience may be too bored to actually find this film 'good'.

As was mentioned, "Armored"'s flaws come in the form of its script. It's just too cliche and rather unmemorable to really make this bad boy stick in the mind's of your average movie viewer. A team of armored security vehicle drivers decide that their lives are pieces of shit and plan to take two of the vehicles, stage a fake heist, and make off with the money. Unfortunately, as with any good heist film, things DO NOT go according to plan and suddenly these men are under a lot of pressure of time, debating their morals, and turning against one another. What did you thing would happen?

The cast is fucking stellar here. It's as if they decided to get the best underrated cast of all time. Dillon, the always vigilant Frenchman Reno, bad ass in all he does Fishburne and they even threw in Fred Ward for shits and giggles. All the cast is excellent in this and are the blood that pumps through this movie to make it work. The high tension, the moral ambiguity, and even the struggles with each other would have been nothing without this cast.

Of course though, I think the true star of this film never appears onscreen. Nimrod Antal. As a director, I have only seen one other film of his, the very impressive horror flick "Vacancy" and he sold me on this film too. Without his visual touch and little nuances, even with the awesome cast, this film would have felt like a straight to DVD release. He certainly knows how to make this film work as well as it does. I'm excited for his career. If he can take a blah script like this and turn it into a somewhat pulse pounding drama than I'm all for it. Not to mention that he will be releasing a "Predator" revamp in the near future.

"Armored" is a hit or miss film. The script and dialogue can be a little run of the mill, but excellent acting and stellar directing make this one at least a one watcher.

Written By Matt Reifschneider