Takers

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Opening in theatres this Friday from director John Luessenhop and Sony Pictures is a cautionary tale of going to far when you’re a gang of “Takers”.

This film tells the story of bank robbers John (Paul Walker), Gordon (Idris Elba), A.J. (Hayden Christensen), and brothers Jesse (Chris Brown) and Jake (Michael Ealy). They are smooth, they are well planned and fast in taking money to live there grand lifestyles.

After a heist two cops, Jack Wells (Matt Dillon) and Eddie Hatcher (Jay Hernandez) begin to look for clues while in the midst of personal problems. Recently released from prison after a four year stint for robbery is Ghost ( T.I. Harris) who took a hit for the gang and now wants what’s his.

Ghost brings them the plans for a heist with a take of over 40 million dollars, the catch – it has to be planned and ready in five days! With the cops investigating and mistrust in the group, it is a step-by-step plan that should go as planned to make them richer than they ever dreamed.

But when you’re a taker – everything isn’t as it seems.

FINAL WORD: This is a cast where no one person takes the lead. The equal footing here is well done. Ealy as Jake seems to be the leader of the pack and his suspicious nature would have served him well. Brown as Jesse played his role cleanly and straightforward.

Walker as John is almost the quiet one here but his presence does bring audiences in. Elba as Gordon is the tall presence in the group. Christensen, with his hate and charm, was also a low-key character put rounded out the pack nicely.

Dillon as Wells was an on the edge cop who couldn’t separate his personal life from his professional one. The twist with his character and Hernandez as Hatcher was a nice twist.

Here is another movie that isn’t rocket science and it may not be original in its plot but it with minute-by-minute action and that’s a great thing. There were cool cars, a beautiful woman Rachel played by Zoe Saldana, chase scenes, car crashes, one liners and slickness galore. It was actually quite cool

Other cast include: Steve Harris as Lt. Carver, Jonathan Schaech as Scott, Marianna Jean-Baptiste as Naomi, and Gideon Emery as Sergei.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give “Takers” three tubs of popcorn out of five. This is an action packed, if somewhat predictable, tale of greed. It’s a mix of “The Italian Job” and “The Getaway” and other bank heist movies.

It will definitely find its audience of cops n robbers fans. There are moments where the audience forgets if they are cheering for one side or the other. So sit back, have fun and let the movie entertain which is certainly what it was meant to do.

In the end everyone’s taking something.