Rating of
3.5/4
"The Bank Job" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/22/12
A London model is arrested for drugs trafficking by MI5 and blackmailed into arranging the robbery of a Bank vault to reclaim some embarrassing photographs used by a corrupt black activist to obtain immunity. I wish Jason Statham would stop trying to be the cockney Van-Damme because this is what he is really good at. One criticism you could instantly level at this film is that the plot is so far-fetched, but bizarrely it's actually a true story. At the beginning it appears to be a decent if slightly run-of-the-mill heist movie as the usual collection of lovable East End villains plan and execute their scam but it's actually after the event that this film gets really interesting. The tone darkens and as it gets more hard-boiled and grim, the better it gets. The direction can seem a little hurried as it tries to cram in all the relevant threads, but solid writing intertwines the several sub plots cleverly and its constantly entertaining. Darker, grittier and above all better than all of the Ocean's films and a great, unpretentious, old-fashioned British crime drama that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of them. Well worth checking out if you enjoyed the similar and Academy Award winning Argo.
