Ladrones (Takers)

After reading the reviews posted here, I had little hope of seeing a good movie, although the fact that the movie was playing at a "budget" theater was incentive enough for me to see it. I'm glad I went. Over the last couple of years, I've found that reviews on movies have become extremely undependable. It seems as though a lot of folks, who fancy themselves as reliable movie critics, have become quite snobbish in their reviews. It's so easy to be critical. Some critics like to feel that they are a step above the rest of us, and therefore more likely to understand how the movie should have been written, versus the flawed production that was actually released upon the public. I'd have missed many a good movie had I listened to the "professionals". This is an entertaining movie. It's not "The Godfather" or "Shawshank Redemption", but it's a good old fashioned action movie that keeps your attention. Get some popcorn and soda, sit back, and enjoy the show.

Every once in a while, I like a nice, mind-numbing adventure film that is pure entertainment. Takers is a good example.

The film stars Matt Dillon, Jay Hernandez, Idris Elba, Paul Walker, T.I., Hayden Christensen, Michael Ealy, Steve Harris, Johnathon Schaech, Zoe Saldana, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

A professional group of robbers is approached by a member (T.I.) who was just released from prison. He has an incredible plan to take down an armored truck full of millions. The group decides to go for it.

Dillon and Hernandez are the two cops who are working to take them down after a recent bank robbery. A slip-up by the drug-addicted sister of one of the crooks puts the cops hot on his trail.

The last half hour of this movie is one of the longest and best chases on foot I've ever seen, followed by a massive shootout - it's nonstop action all the way.

As someone mentioned, not every film is Shawshank Redemption or Citizen Kane. There is room for this type of adventure flick - good thing, because there are plenty of them.

I found it highly entertaining, the story helped by a strong cast.

Heists, robberies, thieves all seems very attractive words when it comes to movie business. And some names like Italian Job, Oceans 11 have proved to be the brim of excitement and thrill and made movie history bit more vivid and interesting. However not always this is true. Even though some movies come out with stunning trailers and impressive cast they fail to pull out the obvious, the story and the drama. And I think 'Takers' fail in the same spot.

'Takers' is a story about a gang of thieves who live luxurious life from the money they manage to rob. Well informed, organized and trained in their livelihood of taking what belongs to others, they seem to know what they are doing. But one day their history starts to bite them in their back and meanwhile a restless cop starts to sniff his way up to their doorstep. In between thundering loud bullet exchanges and lightning fast pursuits 'Takers' have its moments of thrill and suspense. And even the cast is not bad. Eye candy for the woman viewers for sure with Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen in front seats of the whole game the movie, but has poor female characters presentation. The hot Zoe Saldana represents a bit of woman on the movie but her face time is quite unnoticeable.

Even though the action, cinematography, cast is quite good there are certain key areas where 'Takers' fail to deliver. One big failure is the plot. There is no magic in it. Looks Cliché and quite predictable if you are a fan of heist movies all along. And the character development is very poor. You hardly get to know any character so you don't actually feel anything towards them when the story throws emotional moments at you. So the impressive cast is not actually worth it after all.

'Takers' is a thrill ride with a big emptiness surrounding it. I won't consider watching it again unless it's free on HBO and its a lazy jobless day.

As the tittle says, if you want a really good thieves-crew movie go for "The Town" (Ben Affleck's new adventure), or, if you missed it, "Heat" (1995). If you missed this one, wait no longer and get it NOW, its a masterpiece.

Takers is entertaining, action packed, bang bang and all those flashy things. You will be as satisfied as in a meal without dessert, you are full but you still lack something sweet.

The story in "Takers" is solid, with a few shortcuts along the way, but nothing damaging to the overall value of the movie. Acting is also very decent, nothing fancy, also a few bad apples, but mainly in the "second line" of actors.

Also, for the love story fans this has very little value, and the the little it has does not turn out too good.

Overall, my humble opinion, give this movie a chance and you will be satisfied.

'TAKERS': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

An impressive diverse cast of mid-level celebrities and some pretty stunning action scenes highlight this bank robber / obsessed cop heist film directed by newcomer John Luessenhop. The cast includes Matt Dillon, Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen (who after having to deliver such awful dialog and mellow drama in the last three 'STAR WARS' films has actually done pretty well for himself career-wise, compared to like Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher), Jay Hernandez, Zoe Saldana, Michael Ealy, Jonathon Schaech, pop singer Chris Brown and rapper T.I. (Brown and T.I. Also executive produced the film). Like 'THE EXPENDABLES' this film made the smart choice of putting all these actors together, any one or even two by themselves wouldn't have drawn much attention or cash but adding them all together made for a flashy looking film (It made $21 million in it's first weekend, that's pretty impressive for this type of film). The movie is a pretty routine cops and robbers film, sort of a second rate 'HEIST', but it's also surprisingly entertaining!

The film follows a team of five expert and professional bank robbers (Elba, Walker, Christensen, Brown and Ealy) as they team up with an ex-partner of theirs (T.I.), who was just released from prison, on a dangerous armored truck heist, worth $20 million. The movie also focuses on an obsessed cop (Dillon) hot on their trail and his seemingly more 'by the book' partner (Hernandez). Drama ensues as the 'loose canon' cop neglects his young daughter and the bank robbers feel friction and mistrust for their ex-partner. There's also a side story revolving around the crooks leader (Elba) and his drug addicted sister (played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste).

For the most part the characters are underdeveloped and what is developed isn't something we haven't seen hundreds of times before but the cast adds a lot of character and charm to their roles. Each actor is cast perfectly in his or her part (although the female parts are pretty small); Dillon and Elba are always at their best but actors like Walker and Christensen are actually given a brief chance to shine in movies like this. The action scenes are also stunning. The two heists are extremely impressive and there's a breathtaking foot chase scene! The movie is surprisingly entertaining. I went into the movie expecting to be mildly amused but I was hooked for the most part, largely due to the cast and action.

Watch our review show, 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNa6Ky58lm8