dsgoorevitch The characters are stock and the director/writers seem to think they're giving depth to characters that are as thin as photography paper. There are no relationships in the movie that are not clichés. The emotional manipulativeness is laughable, especially when the violin music comes in. Oh. Am I supposed to care for them? Who, exactly? There are no people, really. We haven't been shown anything about them, except for mama rehab, and even that's a cliché, which is a waste of an excellent dramatic actress (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) I first saw in Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies and has never been less than perfect. Even here. But wasted. Idris Alba. He's way too good to be used as a cardboard cutout. So is Michael Ealy.We're supposed to like these criminals because they're successful criminals. That they live by taking from others... well, there's a nod in that direction but only a nod. And we can't tell what the creators intend us to feel about that. Maybe they're nodding off. I know I nodded off while watching this malarkey. They intend us to like them because they know how to invest their money wisely, sort of like how Michael Cimino wanted us to like the working men in the first half hour (a half-hour!) of The Deer Hunter. (They're real people, these workers!)(No kidding. Yeah, I've worked blue collar. A three minuted shot would have said the same thing). But the good bad guys can't resist the temptation to do another job. That's the McGuffin.Then there's the even bigger flaw: the cinematography. Shooting documentary style has worked. It has also failed. Here it fails big time. The supposedly exciting scenes are rendered into bland pastiches that are sometimes confusing. What they really needed is some crane work, some Steadicam work, something that acknowledged they were shooting a narrative. Just one shot like the camera moving around the chauffeur trapped without knowing it in the underground garage in Die Hard would have done wonders. Don't you know you're shooting a STORY? I asked the screen. The screen continued to treat me like an idiot. Then I nodded off again. During the "exciting part."The film IS a narrative. But it's shot as if it's not. Catching every breathless moment with a shaky camera is only drama if something is invested in it. The last time it really worked was The French Connection.Pass.

Fella_shibby I saw this on a rented DVD in 2011 n i was not disappointed. It is a very entertaining movie with good action, extended car chases and shootouts. It has energy and suspense. Very stylish too. Expensive suits n boots, fine cigars, watches n amazing places to rest. The best part was the parkour scene. As a big fan of parkour stunts, myself being more into adventure stuff, i enjoyed the foot chase by Chris Brown very entertaining. The armoured - car heist is one of the best action sequence. One word, it was entertaining n not at all boring. Much better than Armoured, Swordfish, Taking of Pelham. Some may compare it to Heat. Common man. Jus being a cop n robhers movie ain't no fault. Agree it's nowhere close to the classic but nonetheless it is a good heist movie with amazing star cast. Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Idris Elba, Jay Hernandez, Michael Ealy, Tip "T.I." Harris, Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Zoe Saldana, etc. At times the hand held camera scenes were irritating but that is jus a minor flaw but still good cinematography n pacing. Spoilers ahead. I actually felt bad for Hayden Christiansen when his character died.

alindsay-al I like a good heist film so I was interested in this film but boy does it fail to deliver. The premise of this shows us a skilled group of bank robbers who manage to avoid the cops. When an ex member of the crew gets out of prison he comes to them for their biggest job yet. Now I really like idris Elba, I think he is good in about everything he does and that continues in this film. He was the main presence in the film and he was good in the role. Unfortunately, just like every person in this film you don't like or care about his character because he has no real good things about him. The late Paul walker is in this film and he was very bland in this movie, he just didn't really add anything to the movie as a whole. The cop who is chasing after him has no real likable things about him either, we are meant to be rooting for him but you are never given a reason to. The worst performance though has to go to anakin Skywalker himself Hayden Christensen. He was so bad in this film and looked ridiculous, I don't think this guy is a good actor and this film backs me up. The story is all over the place, it focuses on the cops going after the crooks more then the heist which was the only part I was interested in. It trys to give you really forced reasons to like these people even though they are bad people and it just doesn't work. The script is pretty terrible and doesn't allow any of these guys the real chance to shine and makes them all look pretty stupid. The style had some okay action scenes and well done parkour scenes. But there was allot of use of shaky cam and slow motion that really felt out of place. Overa I really didn't like this movie so I don't advise you see it.

MzKimiko This movie was quite enjoyable for me. Yes - The plot has a few holes in it, but I find that it did not detract from the excitement and action of the movie.I must commend T.I on his performance as Ghost, I honestly did not expect him to be a very good actor - honestly I didn't expect much from him. However, I was pleasantly surprised. If you are a T.I fan definitely check out this movie to watch his performance he does a great job at playing a sly villainous character. The main complaint I have about this movie is the lack of character development. You are introduced to each member of the heist team but know no more about them than the car they drive, their name and that they own a club together. It would have been nice if there was an elaboration on each characters back story so you could understand more about them and how they came together to form this heist team.So...If you're looking for a movie with a talented cast, exciting heist scenes or to simply be entertained then this movie is right up your alley. Its a far cry from becoming a classic but it is a good movie nonetheless.