Nimrod Antal’s Armored feels like a film from a different time; specifically, an action thriller from the late 1990s. It’s the kind of second tier B movie that might have starred Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead, Michael Keaton in the Dillon role, and Laurence Fishburne in the same role he’s got here. Due to the shrieking chaos of most modern action films, this fact actually proves to be a good thing.
Under the skilled direction of Antal, Armored trades up shaky cam and overcooked editing for expertly shot and nerve-jangling chase sequences that feel inspired by 1970′s crime thrillers. The second string cast, including Dillon, Fishburn, Ulrich and the always dependable Ward, all deliver down-to-earth performances that fit the characters.
Unfortunately, a predictable plot rife with holes and inconsistencies and a script banged together from old heist clichés shoots the movie in the foot before it can pull off the big caper.
The basic set-up has been highlighted in the film’s far too revealing trailer; a group of blue collar armored-car guards decide to rob their own vehicle and abscond with the money. Ty Hackett (Columbus Short) is the rookie who has taken the job because he needs the money to take care of his adolescent brother after the death of their parents. Dillon plays Hackett’s godfather Michael, and the leader of the gang. Fishburne is Baines, the boozy loudmouth; Reno the tough and shady Frenchman (what else?); Ulrich the flunkie; Nolasco the born-again Christian who carries a bible but who isn’t above stealing if they can get away with it. The timing is perfect, the haul is an obscene amount of cash, and Hackett is about to be foreclosed on and his little brother taken away to foster care. There it is then. In a time of economic hardship it’s a dream plan that doesn’t involve a single fired shot or anyone being harmed.
If you have seen enough movies—probably two—then you will know that things don’t go as planned, and after a too long set-up that gets the pair of armored cars to an abandoned warehouse everything falls apart. What happens next is described in explicit detail in the film’s promotional materials, but I’m not going through it here. Armored has so few secrets and surprises that far be it from me to take them from you. Columbus Short, as Hackett, comes into his own during the second half and he has enough charisma and presence that he distracts from the silliness that follows.
Antal retraces similar steps he made with 2007’s Vacancy, which found Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale at the mercy of a gang of snuff filmmakers at a remote hotel. Both movies work just fine as cracker-jack thrillers, and Armored does its job with considerable less nastiness than its predecessor. Action fans who have recently been fed an over-abundance of flashy, loud chaos might be rightfully pleased with this one. Just don’t go in expecting it to fulfill many of its promises outside an hour and a half of decent thrills.
I actually wish that Armored had gone a little more in the direction of an over-the-top B movie instead of the grungy working-class realism it settles for. Once things go wrong for these guys, the plot stops operating in the real world and starts flying free of plausibility. A little crazy might have helped it, but it never wants to commit. There is a superb battle between two armored cars in the midsection and the clanging, smashing vehicles careen through the dusty warehouse yard as if they were on their way to Thunderdome. Fred Ward plays the manager of the security guards and his team tells stories about the time he wasted six men. But we never get to see him do anything besides sit behind a desk, and after that first chase scene, the armored cars are pretty much stationary. All of the pieces are here and Antal does what he can with them, but Armored makes the mistake of aiming for too small a piece of the haul.
Movie rating: 
