MOVIE REVIEW: ARMORED

Ty, an armored truck service employee with serious money problems, begins to panic when the bank threatens to take his house, and the state threatens to put his brother in foster care. His co-workers, knowing his situation, talk him into helping them steal 43 million dollars from the truck service to save his house and brother. When things don't go as planned, Ty decides to do what is right and stop his friends from taking the money, locking himself and an injured officer in the truck. Time becomes a factor when they start trying to break open the doors. Will they get in before help can arrive?

Armored is full of B-list actors with one time hits under each of their belts. Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, CSI), Matt Dillon (Crash), Jean Reno (Couples Retreat) and Skeet Ulrich (Scream) round out the film as the guards trying to take the money.

The pace of the movie is very fast. It starts with cheesy buddy cop jokes and pranks, riddled with "tough cop" dialogue which feels so forced you almost want to laugh. The film very quickly and then for the most part stays in an abandoned warehouse where the potential heist is taking place. Here the movie improves some going from stupid dialogue to an actual plot. Ty locks himself and the injured officer in the truck while the group on the outside has internal conflicts with themselves and each other. Then it abruptly ends with some, but no real sense of closure on the story. The viewer is left, not necessarily wanting more movie, but wanting more closure to the characters and their story.

A few good thing about the film, is that it didn't force too much action. A lot of times when lower budget "action flicks" are released they try and compensate with over the top action for a less than par story. This film felt as if it could have been real. No jumping out of helicopters or hot wiring an impossible contraption to escape an impossible situation.

Another plus was the performances. Yes, at first it was borderline terrible, but once the story picked up I found myself rolling my eyes less and paying attention more.

The film won't leave you fully disappointed, but you will not leave anticipating it's arrival on dvd either. I give Armored a two and a half out of five.