El atraco

This is a very fine police drama from Poland, and it reminds me greatly of the Icelandic police drama series Trapped and Entrapped which also were extremely successful for Netflix. No pretty people, bleak surroundings, people who have problems in relationships due to their circumstances and cops who know how bad the gutter is because they are only a few steps removed from it themselves.

The current IMDB rating as I write this for the film is 6.3. That is a travesty. It may be that the writers gave away a bit to much to early, but it still was a riveting movie that one will watch to a suspenseful conclusion. Sure it is not some super sci-fi blockbuster but overall it is well done film making.

I know the setting for the movie is supposed to be in the past, I am guessing the early 2000's, but I sure hope Poland today is not as bleak as what we view in the movie.

Napad was a overall decent crime movie. Set during the early 90's we see a former cop his done on his luck untill one day he is approched with the opportunity to get his old life back, with one thing. He has to solve a grizzly bank heist that left four people dead. The clues are few but our hero must work with a young police woman in order to find out the culprits in time. I think this film had a good flow. It built up the mystery. Maybe certain parts could be better as I felt the movie was too long and couldve been more impactful if it were shorter. Good cast though, characters were written well and overall a enjoyable crime film.

I decided to write a review after reading the some of the comments where viewers are criticizing the movie for not being realistic and saying this or that would have normally happened. I am not saying that it's a masterpiece and there were moments when I felt not much was happening and the dialogues weren't adding anything valuable to the movie.

However, when people say in reality there would be cameras and other equipment to record the robber when trying to kill the policeman, then I can give you a short history lesson about Poland. Until 1989 it was a communist country, when the police was called "militia" and was doing whatever they pleased, corruption was unbelievable and you could barely differentiate them from the criminals and the mob. In the early 90s barely anybody had cameras and it was even mentioned in the movie that they wouldn't have any wire at all if not for the old "militia" detective who still knew some people who had the wire van that they were using. Also, the police didn't change right away and for many years a lot of the previous "militia" continued to co-operate with the mob and dealing with things the way they liked.

As for the comments that the heist didn't look realistic (not to mention that "Die Hard" is the real example of what a heist should look like), actually the heist part really happened in Poland and women really came to work in the bank early and were killed because of that. There was no siege, things blowing up or a shoot-out with the police. This is not the US, I have never seen a real gun in my life and it would have been incredibly unrealistic to create something similar to "Die Hard" to take place in Poland :)

Anyway, if you are looking for an action movie, this is not it. And I can understand that people not knowing much about Poland and mostly watching crime films packed with chases, drama, shoot-outs and incredible stunts may not like this movie at all and find it boring. But I can say one thing for sure - it is actually pretty realistic!

Surprisingly well written dialogues, substantly inspired by "Psy", in this film which is a creative interpretation of a real-life bank robbery during the political changes in Poland in the 90s.

You will find many reviews criticising the fakeness of the case, but if you approach Napad/Justice the way the filmmakers want you will get a really entertaining police thriller with a body count like in the good Midsomer Murders, a grim old secret communist policeman in the lead, suspense that comes out of absolutely nowhere, a not particularly sensible investigation, but for all that very pleasantly acted (even the child actors!), with really good dialogue and great sets and costumes (I give a seal of approval as someone who remembers the 90s from my childhood and teenage years).

Basically, it was clearly an attempt to create a typical American thriller from a streaming service, only set in Polish early capitalism reality. And in this category I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Don't listen to the bad reviews and please give it a chance. Slow burn, good character development and motivation. The acting was very good as well that even through subtitles was able convey the character's emotions. Loved the Nolan-esque score that helps set the serious tone of the film, but of course at a much smaller scale.

Bad reviews have got to be based on the lack of spectacle that everyone sees to expect nowadays. Thanks for that MCU! No CGI, no super cops or boss girls, just a good and solid detective story. I cannot recommend it enough and I really hope more movies like this get put on the streaming platforms.