Idris Elba

Takers lacks Heat

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Takers
  • IMDB: link

I love heist flicks and I’m usually willing to cut them an awful lot of slack. On my DVD shelf alongside of Heist, To Catch a Thief, and Sneakers, I own copies of The Newton Boys, How to Beat the High Co$t of Living and After the Sunset. When a new heist flick comes along I’m willing to give it several chances to prove itself. After seeing Takers I might have to reevaluate that position.

It took four writers to put Takers together, and it shows. The film is a mediocre mess of both shots and storylines best left of the cutting room floor. I’m sure the attempt here was to merge the coolness of the Ocean’s Eleven franchise (without Clooney, Pitt, and Cheadle) with the feel of Michael Mann’s Heat (without DeNiro, Pacino, and Kilmer). Not surprising, it’s a disaster in every sense of the word.

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The Losers

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Losers
  • IMDB: link

the-losers-posterSo far 2010 is turning out to be a good year for those who like action flicks, especially those based on comic books. First Kick-Ass gave us the bloodiest super-hero movie ever, and now the The Losers show up to give us a classic tale of wronged would-be-do-goers out for revenge.

Based on the Vertigo comic, the film begins with a mission gone wrong. The CIA Special Forces Team known as “The Losers” are betrayed by a their mysterious unseen handler (Jason Patric) and left for dead in the jungles of Bolivia. Months later the team is approached by yet another mysterious figure (are you sensing a pattern here?), a woman (Zoe Saldana) willing to offer them a chance to get their revenge.

The team includes Commander Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the hard-as-nails Roque (Idris Elba), the sharpshooter Cougar (Oscar Jaenada), the pilot Pooch (Columbus Short), and nerdy tech Jensen (Chris Evans – who manages to steal every scene of the movie, except perhpas those in which Saldana takes off her clothes).

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RocknRolla

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: RocknRolla
  • IMDB: link

There is no honor among thieves.

The latest from writer/director Guy Ritchie is a bit of a convoluted tale of real-estate scams in London.  Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) runs an under the table service of getting property rights quickly passed through red tape for an exorbitant fee.  Anyone needing business done quickly has no other option than to go through Cole.

After bilking two tough guys (Gerard Bulter, Idris Elba) out of their dream, and getting them to owe him money, Cole moves onto business with a Russian (Karel Roden).  Here’s where things get complicated.

In need of some fast cash One Two (Butler) and Mumbles (Elba) take a job from an associate (Thandie Newton) to rob a large supply of money coming into London.  Unknown to the pair the money is the payoff the Russian is bringing to Cole, and its theft jeopardizes the business deal.

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