Although hindered significantly by a mediocre-at-best script and poor acting, Takers somehow manages to be a decently entertaining film.

Takers is an ensemble heist film that features Hayden Christensen, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Chris Brown, and Michael Ealy as a group of high-class thieves who are dragged into a job by their recently released ex-member Ghost (T. I.) just as two detectives (Matt Dillon and Jay Hernandez) are hot on their tail. Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Zoë Saldaña co-star.

Going into the movie, I did not expect much. I had only seen a poster for it that had been collecting dust in the theater for a while and it looked absolutely terrible. I mean, the cast consists of a few actors, rappers, and Hayden Christensen. Really? Hayden Christensen? There’s just something about the way they marketed this movie that cast away any hope for this movie. At least that’s what I thought. Now let’s forget my preconceptions and focus on the film.

As you may have guessed, Takers does not provide a spectacular narrative. Not only have we seen this story many times before, nothing special or new is added this go-around. The script is extremely formulaic so if you’ve seen a heist movie before, you’ll be able to predict everything that happens. Still, genre films can be fun even if we’ve seen them before.

If you look at it that way, Takers is quite an enjoyable film. It’s a fun, simple story that showcases some fun sequences. Specifically, the chases stick out as especially exciting. From a few car chases to Chris Brown’s impressive parkour escape from the cops, there’s a lot of good action. What’s also impressive is how you can root for both the thieves and the cops in this film. It’s also a rare treat to see a movie where there are good guys and bad guys both that you can root for almost equally.

But even with these enjoyable aspects, Takers has too many flaws that cannot go ignored. The acting is very weak. Michael Ealy is the definite stand-out with his well-rounded performance as a man worried about his stance in life while at the same time facing the consequences for his choices. The rest of the cast, even those who normally give much better performances, are hindered by the poor script. As mentioned before, this movie is full of cliches. Not only is the general premise familiar, but the dialogue is bland and not delivered well to boot. I think this is characteristic of inexperienced writers. Sure, the formula works to provide a decent narrative, but much more is needed to make this into a great film.

The direction is also not great. Although the chase scenes and some of the action is great fun, most of the film is shot in this confusing, zoomed-in, shaky cam style that doesn’t work here. In an action scene, it is obviously important to convey a sense of kinetic energy and motion but randomly shaking the camera about is just annoying. Towards the end of the film, there are several scenes that show promise, including a near-silent shootout throw-back to Bonnie and Clyde, but these interesting shots are not enough to really provide anything special.

The most unfortunate thing is that Takers sets up some interesting topics that go unexplored. Some of the characters show some depth, but that is passed over in the long run. Also, storylines that were only hinted at could have served as full-fledged side-plots to complement the main story. However, in the end Takers is a simple heist film that delivers some good sequences, but fails overall.

All in all, I enjoyed Takers much more than I was expecting to. I’m a sucker for heist films, and it is definitely a fun, simple action movie that has some good humor and exciting action. That being said, the film lacks any core to really drive it so if you’re in the mood for a crime film this week, definitely check out Animal Kingdom instead.

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Miracle at St. Anna is A SPIKE LEE dis(JOINT)ed film. Unfortunately the only miracle at this premiere was that people didn’t get up and leave the theater before it was over. The film starts with the seemingly random killing of a man in a post office. While every part of you expects that the murder will be explained, two plus hours into the story you’ll be asking yourself if the opening scene actually had anything to do with this jarring jaunt back and forth through the lives of the main characters.

The movie at its core is about the plight of the 92^nd Infantry Division, known as the Buffalo Soldiers Division, during World War II. This segregated unit was the only African-American infantry division to see combat in Europe during the Italian Campaign.

Focusing in on four soldiers separated from the rest of their unit; Second Staff Sergeant Aubrey Banks (Derek Luke); Sergeant Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy); Cpl. Hector Negron (Laz Alonso), the man charged with murder 40 years later; and PFC Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller) find themselves holed up in the town of Colognora, Italy looking after an injured boy named Angelo (Matteo Sciabordi).

The storyline alternates between somewhat touching looks at wartime compassion, realistically gruesome battle carnage, way too much subtitled dialogue involving German forces and Italian partisans, and a clear look at the ugliness of racism.

It’s problem is that it dwells too long on parts that are utterly boring and makes you wonder if the subtitles are there to keep your eyes open and your mind engaged lest there be an important clue as to where the movie is going.  And then it whisks frantically through any sort of compelling character development that may have let you care about what was happening. By the end of the 160 minutes you leave wishing it had been about 50 minutes shorter, and wondering why we were force-fed more Italian war political discussion and German forces interaction than was needed to set up the conclusion.

At its best, this movie was a compelling and visually chaotic glimpse into what most blacks experienced as infantry soldiers in WWII. Spike Lee’s action sequences amp up the adrenaline in a visual cacophony that leaves you hoping you’ll never have to endure a firefight – and praying for the ones who have to each day or have been scarred by them in the past.

Ultimately, Miracle at St. Anna ends up being an overextended foray into 1940′s racism. While the unjustness of the story seeks to remind us of where we’ve been as a country; it’s clouded in a murder mystery, within a war crime, inside a vision of the supernatural, ending in a sigh of frustration despite the all too neatly wrapped up, but overly late conclusion.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆