Armoured (www.the-usher.com)

"This was not the plan"

After graduating as a fully-fledged guard, armed service veteran Ty Hackett (Short) joins his new crew at Eagle Shield Security. Ferrying money around the city of Los Angeles, Ty joins Mike (Dillion), Quinn (Leno), Baines (Fishburne), Palmer (Nolasco) and Dobbs (Ulrich) but his new colleagues have a plan. Needing money to keep him and his younger brother Jimmy (Kinney) from been split up, Ty reluctantly agrees to be part of a planned heist that would see the crew $42 million better off but all of the best laid plans can go drastically wrong.

Mixing a heist with action should be a cocktail for a thrill ride but ‘Armoured’ tries to be a little too clever for its own good.

Director Nimrod Antal has been hailed as the next big thing in Hollywood. After making a splash with the creepy ‘Vacancy’ in 2007, he gained the attention of many studio and fan as to what his project would be. Already signed up by producer Robert Rodriguez for his next big production, a new ‘Predator’ movie, Antal still had to finish and release ‘Armoured’ but it might not have been what Hollywood was expecting.

Uniting an impressive all-male cast with the promise of action, a heist and the chance for the ensemble to bring a little more character to the film. In trying to be more ‘Usual Suspects’ or ‘Reservoir Dogs’ than an action feast, with most of the film taking place in a warehouse after the heist starts to go wrong. The location is supposed to be a place were men can be consumed by greed, personalities clash and the choice between what is right and wrong will be decided. This should breed great drama and moralistic choices that will shape the very lives of these few men but instead we have a clichéd, wannabe action flick with a story that wants to be so much more.

When you see a movie that mixing some very good established talent and some up and coming actors that are on the verge of making it big. The problem with any ensemble is how it is managed and how the characters are given time to development. There is no point signing a well-known actor and then not giving him anything to do, for ‘Armoured’ this is case unfortunately. While Matt Dillion’s Mike and Columbus Short’s Ty have most of the screen time, with everyone not getting much of the eighty-eight minute screen time. Jean Reno may as well not be in the film, Skeet Ulrich has nothing to do and Amuary Nolasco’s Palmer is portrayed as a religious man but has no problem with stealing. The same can also be said of Milo Ventimiglia, as the ‘Heroes’ star has nothing to do as Office Eckeheart except bring some more drama to the situation.

With only a limited amount of action, a heist that is predictable and not engaging and character development that is almost forgotten about, ‘Armoured’ isn’t the film you might have been expecting. This is a missed opportunity and the excellent ensemble cast deserved a lot better.

Blu-ray Exclusive: movieIQ+sync and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie!
Producer and Cast Commentary
Planning the Heist: Making of
Crash Course: Stunts
Armed and Underground: Production Design

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2010