[4.50/10] Takers (2010)

Takers (2010)

John Luessenhop's heist thriller, "Takers", revolves around a notorious group of criminals, who continue to baffle police by pulling off perfectly executed bank robberies. They are in and out like clockwork, leaving no evidence behind and laying low in between heists. But when they attempt to pull off one last job with more money at stake than ever before, the crew may find their plans interrupted by a hardened detective, who is hell-bent on solving the case. Truth to be told, John Luessenhop's second feature film is a chaotic mess, that has very little to offer, as it suffers from derivative and unoriginal plot, and a complete lack of focus and cohesion. At first you might think that there's too much going on in "Takers", but soon you realize that nothing interesting really happens. In fact, Chris Brown's 'runaway' sequence is the only truly gripping, intense and exciting part in this cinematic misfire, but one great scene is not enough to save this movie from being painfully boring. "Takers" features a well-known ensemble cast, that includes Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon, Jay Hernandez, Zoe Saldana, Paul Walker, Michael Ealy, and last but not lest, the two ultra-popular rappers Chris Brown and T.I. With a cast like this, it's almost natural to expect at least decent performances from all the actors involved, but in fact, very few of them deliver. Matt Dillon gives the strongest performance of the bunch - he is utterly enthralling when he is onscreen, and carries the role with complete believability and passion. Both Chris Brown and T.I. deliver an above average performances, which is a nice surprise, since they have very little acting experience. Jay Hernandez is an undeniable charmer, but his performance is just okay. None of the other actors particularly memorable, as their characters are terribly underwritten. Although John Luessenhop's direction is okay, as he provides a decent variety of camera angles and a couple of well-staged action scenes, technically, "Takers" also fails to impress. The film suffers poor quick cut editing and uneven pacing that often cause confusion. Plus, the yellowish tint, hazy filters and low-key lighting, employed by the cinematographer, make the film less visually attractive. Unbelievably dull, utterly chaotic and terribly-structured, "Takers" is probably the most uninspired 'heist' movie I've seen in a while, and one of this year's biggest disappointments.