Heist: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
When their attempt to rob a casino owned by the feared gangster Pope (Robert De Niro) goes awry and a shootout ensues, Vaughn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Cox (Dave Bautista) are forced to flee on foot and hijack city bus 657 and take the passengers hostage. Now, in a high-speed chase, Vaughn will not only have to outwit the police who are in hot pursuit, led by Officer Bajos (Gina Carano), but he will have to contend with Pope’s maniacal right hand man, Dog (Morris Chestnut), in order to make it through the day alive. But we quickly learn that things are not what they seem, and Vaughn has more than one card up his sleeve.
The film starts off very sudden and gives us an obvious glimpse at the jumping off point of the narrative and we’re left with a big question mark over our head. From there we’re taken on a crazy ride that can only be described as a mix of the movies Speed and Oceans Eleven. There some really great action scenes here but for the most part it’s a very dialogue driven film which isn’t a bad thing but I feel like it might not be what people expect. The story has certain unique aspects to it that make it enjoyable but there are other moments that left me questioning if I had seen something like this before. De Niro doesn’t have a huge part in the film but he does play a role that is integral to the story. He’s always great at what he does but I wish he was around a bit more. The same with Kate Bosworth. I feel like both of them were included on the front cover only to garner attention just for their name. Bautista impressed me once again. No, he’s isn’t the best actor out there BUT he has improved immensely and shown that he is slowly becoming a contender in the acting game. Carano however is the complete opposite. She’s easy on the eyes but her acting ability hasn’t really changed at all. Her line delivery is fairly deadpan and that makes her performance not believable at all. The one who came out of nowhere was Mark-Paul Gosselaar. He’s played many law enforcement characters before that it maybe came kind of easy for him but I thought that he was one of the most fun in the film mainly because he had layers to his character. Morgan however is the MVP in this film. He is able to command the screen so easily and make you pay attention to every scene that he’s in. On top of all that he managed to make me continuously put myself in his shoes and question if I would do something like he did if I were in his situation. Morgan has definitely become one of my favorite actors in recent years and his performance topped everyone else…..even De Niro to be honest. I ended up really enjoying this movie more than I thought I would even though some of it was predictable. This may not be purchase worthy but it is worth checking out if you are looking for a decent caper type of film. 7/10
Special Features:
Commentary with Director Scott Man, Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Writer Max Adams
Deleted/Extended Scenes – A handful of extra scenes that don’t really offer too much more to the story.
The Making of Heist – An in depth look at the production and includes interviews with the cast and crew.
Cast – Crew Interviews – More of the same cast and crew interviews from the previous feature and of course there isn’t a De Niro interview.
