It's virtually impossible to make an original heist flick anymore. The last really good one was probably 2008's "The Bank Job," which was more known for making Jason Statham temporarily appear to be an engaging dramatic actor full of nuance and even subtlety. Director John Luessenhop doesn't work the same magic with recording artists T.I. and Chris Brown in the new "Takers." But he does keep his plot moving along at a zippy pace, and he has a real gift for shooting action.
"Takers" is a solid, involving caper that steals liberally from the far superior "Heat" and "True Romance" of the mid-1990s. Saving matters are actors Idris Elba and Matt Dillon as, respectively, the smooth leader of a crime ring that knocks over banks and armored cars in the L.A. metro area and the grizzled police detective hot on his trail. Elba gets to use his natural British accent here and classes up the crime side of the picture, while Dillon calls on his "Crash" and "Armored" turns to deliver a convincing performance, albeit one on cruise control.
The film's biggest drawbacks are, one, its lack of originality and, two, its rather dated production. The film was temporarily shelved to get some distance from Brown and T.I.'s legal woes. In that time, co-star Zoe Saldana hit big with "Avatar." Unfortunately, she's only in about three scenes here. Meanwhile, many cuts seem to have been made to the film to get it down from an R rating to a PG-13 for maximum audience appeal. So, the shootouts and fights are largely bloodless, and characters come close to saying the "F" word but stop short or are cut off in mid-sentence.
On the positive side, the lack of hard profanity and overly graphic violence lends to the film's classier aspirations. The criminals funnel their ill-gotten gains into some snazzy wardrobe choices, some fine automobiles, and some truly swank homes. If this were the '70s, I'd have written that the crooks have some bad threads, cool rides, and swingin' pads. But, seriously, these are some dapper villains. And like in "Heat" and "True Romance," you do halfway root for them.
But that doesn't mean you root against Dillon's Jack Welles and his partner, Eddie (an engaging Jay Hernandez). Both have problems of their own. Jack is divorced, estranged from his daughter, and under investigation for roughing up a suspect. Eddie, meanwhile, has debt problems, a sick child, and an out-of-work wife. We sense that some moral choices will eventually come up for these two, and they do. At the same time, Elba's Gordon has an Achilles heel of his own - a drug-addicted sister who he has to deal with while planning his various heists.
On the downside -- well, there's no easy way to say this. T.I. is a horrible actor. He's naturally smarmy as the ex-convict who pulls Gordon's team back in for one final heist. But his line readings are so grating, so annoyingly amateur, that his presence short-circuits a number of the key scenes throughout. I can only imagine what a real actor like Omar Epps or Rob Brown or Mekhi Phifer would have done with this integral role.
At the same time, I have to give credit to Chris Brown for emerging from the film's shadows in one key action sequence. After a certain heist, Jack and Eddie have tracked him to a downtown subway station, and what follows is the most sensationally effective foot chase since 2006's "Casino Royale." The chase builds and builds and builds, spilling out into downtown streets and alleys and through a busy office building as innocent pedestrians and bystanders get caught up in the action. It's a great showy sequence that ends up being the main reason to see this on the big screen.
And I do recommend seeing it on the big screen, especially if you are a fan of any of the above mentioned performers (Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen are also in the mix as crooks). Despite its reliance on clichés and character types, there is enough good stuff in the film to rate a solid 6.5 out of 10. (T. Durgin)
![[Screen It]](/images/underground_header.jpg)