Who watches the watchmen? Its something that must have flashed through the minds of even the most dedicated of security personnel.

With that in mind, Armored sees Mike (Matt Dillon) lead a team of security guards who decide to rip off their own trucks for $42 million. But in order for their plan to go ahead, they need to convince newbie Ty (Columbus Short) to go along with it.

Unfortunately, Ty isnt is as easily swayed as they might have hoped but with the bank threatening to close on his house and after social services threaten to take his brother (Andre Kinney) away, he feels he has no choice.

Needless to say, their plan doesnt exactly go according to plan and after Ty has an attack of conscience, he locks himself in the armoured van leaving the others to try to dig him out.

In a film which largely takes place in one room, you need to be able to understand and identify with the characters to make it engaging.

Unfortunately, none of the crew are developed from the thin characterisations theyre initially given Baines (Laurence Fishburne) is the typical loose cannon and liability, Skeet Ulrich is the timid and hesitant Dobbs and Jean Reno is completely underused as Quinn surely they could have found a better use for his talents?

Its hard to feel that theyre anything beyond filler, there to soak up collateral damage only to be casually discarded once theyve fulfilled their roles they rarely if ever feel like real people if it wasnt for their uniforms, youd quickly forget their names.

The most interesting of the group is Palmer (Amaury Nolasco), a quiet ex-convict who has an unrevealed reason to be religious. But with none of the characters fleshed out beyond their necessary roles and Palmer only receiving about 10 minutes of screen time, its frustrating that we never find out his back-story and its difficult to care about what happens to any of them.

This coupled with the wild inconsistencies in Matt Dillons character one minute hes a protector, the next hes willing to murder his friend makes it hard to find anything to identify with. Consequently the film is shallow and the predictable ending is unsatisfying.

 

For all its deficiencies in script, the action is tautly directed by Nimrd Antal (soon to be in the driving seat for the Robert Rodriguez produced reboot Predators) who manages to make the few actions scenes exciting and the tension palpable.

But this is little comfort to a bland film which offers nothing new. Its not bad if you want a cheap thrill but those who like their movies with a little more depth should look elsewhere.

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By: Jez Sands