Retribution

A banker goes to work one day and takes the kids to be dropped off at school but before that can happen, he receives a phone call from someone who tells him he has placed a bomb under the seats of the car and tells him he must arrange a transfer of money to him.

It's the kind of idea that has been seen before whereby someone on the end of a phone is controlling someone else for their gain but from the offset we are sent on a thrilling journey making you wonder why this is happening and making you wonder what you would do in such a situation. The director manages to keep things fairly grounded and so the realism assists in building up the tension. There are a couple of twists thrown in which keeps the pace going.

Good acting from everyone involved in a cast that I am unfamiliar with due to the Spanish production. In the decade of remakes and reboots, this is certainly a film I can see being remade at some point. Provided you do not mind reading subtitles this is certainly worth the viewing time.

If you take LOCKE - starring Tom Hardy spending all the feature length speaking in a cell phone whilst he drives his car - and Joel Schumacher's PHONE BOOTH, starring Colin Farell trapped in a phone booth because of a death threat over his head - not a bomb but a sniper - you will easily get this film topic. OK, that a pretty good suspense, but admit that since a couple of years now, you have many of those topics emerging every where; I mean phone calls involving death threats, or a person asked to kill some folks by unknown killers using a cell phone. A very predictable scheme. When it is not persons buried, locked in a coffin, room, car chest, basement...I guess you will see many more in a near future. Only a not predictable ending can spice those suspense stories. It is also a little "tribute" to the economic crisis; the banker accused to have pushed a woman to suicide because of her lost savings...

I liked this movie, but I was not to impressed. There were already a bunch of movies with a similar storyline, but because it was a spanish movie I liked it more. The spanish movies are getting better and bettere each year and this movie prooves it. The main character's acting was on point, plus the kids were just as good. 7/10 for me.

Not just cruising, there is a lot more weight to this (pun intended). It does show that there is a really good genre scene in Spain. While you could argue that this is a mixture of different other (American) movies, it still keeps an original touch to it. Now the message on the other hand is a bit convoluted.

But let's keep it real: How many movies can really balance political or social statements and deliver on the thriller aspect the viewer is expecting? Not that many who are really exceptional. This is still pretty strong and good, even with a couple of plot holes and suspend your disbelief kind of stuff. If you're able to, the movie will be a somewhat enjoyable ride (pun not intended)

I only watched this film because I wanted to practise my Spanish and didn't expect to enjoy the flick. In fact, it had sat on my hard drive for nearly a year before I got around to finally watching it. Imagine my surprise and delight when the movie kept me on the edge of my seat for the duration. It is formulaic, to be sure, like most action films, but still has enough twists to keep up the suspense. Plus, the acting is great across the board. So, for those like me who always want more of the same, it hits the spot.