Armored - Thoughts

I remember seeing the trailer for Armored a year or two ago and thinking it looked pretty cool. A friend of mine, who was seeing it with me, shared my sentiment. From the looks of it, it seemed like an action movie based on the events surround a heist of an armored car transporting money from a bank. I decided to catch this one on DVD, and finally got around to renting it and checking it out a few days ago.

Going by the trailer and its largely misguiding effect on my expectations, Armored turned out to be a bit of a letdown. First off, it’s not a fast paced action movie; the bulk of the narrative being quite slow. Many a time I found it to be dragging, and though the movie is just a mere 88 minutes long, it felt like a hell of a lot more. There are no thrilling on road chases and action sequences, which is largely what the trailer had me believe. In fact I was expecting circumstances similar to the final moments of The Italian Job; trust me, there’s none of that here. What Armored is, is a slow suspense flick, with action elements. From that perspective the movie is relatively competent. So if you’re in the mood for that, you’ll probably like it. If you’re looking for an edge-of-the-seat action joyride, you will be largely disappointed.

The cast of Armored is pretty capable, and that is perhaps one of the successes of the movie. The lead role of Ty Hackett is played by Columbus Short. Going by his filmography his efforts look to be minimal, with mostly small supporting roles in other movies. He does admirably in Armored, portraying effectively, a quiet nature coupled with good values. Amidst a group of heavy hitters including Laurence Fishburne, and Matt Dillon who do well as expected, there is a nice contrast of character that comes through.  Also part of the cast are popular TV actors, Amaury Nolasco playing Palmer (of Prison Break fame), and Milo Ventimiglia playing Eckehart (of Heroes fame).

The DVD I was sampling was a Region 1 US release; video was clear, though not outstanding. There was a dull look to the picture which was consistent throughout. The indoor and night scenes thus felt a bit dark. There were no vibrant or bright colors, and some scenes favored browns. The soundtrack was a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track, which was pretty good. Dialog being clear and surround stage usage noticeable in several scenes.

My Recommendation: Watch It – (a low key bank heist flick)