User Reviews

In Armored, we get a story that could have just as easily been told this year as it could have been sixty years ago. Its central 'good-guy' figure, Ty (Columbus Short), is an Iraq war veteran who takes a job working as an armored-car delivery-man, who has the backup of other members on the crew who knew his father. They plan a heist so that Ty's house isn't foreclosed by the bank (and that his younger brother isn't taken away from him for being a delinquent), and a promise is made to him by his friends that no harm will come to anyone during the heist. This, of course, isn't true, as a vagrant is in the warehouse where the armored car thieves attempt to stash the millions, and then it turns into a ticking-clock scenario where Ty has to find a way out before the other members fully turn on him in real-time (the cars have to be back in an hour, you see, or the whole plan is a bust).

Replace Germany with Iraq and you could have a similar scenario play out, and one can even see certain actors filling in shoes played by actors of today (maybe Farley Granger for Columbus Short- certainly they're both bland enough- and a heavy like Lionel Stander in Laurence Fishburne's role or Kirk Douglas in Matt Dillon's part). I kept thinking of this during Armored, perhaps as a way to amuse myself while the story kept chugging away on its somewhat-predictable gears. Somewhat in that there are a couple of twists that one doesn't expect (one involving a crew-member's suicide), and that there is some heavy action a couple of times, handled competently by director Nimrod Antal.

It's never too poorly acted, save for Short as I mentioned, and its story moves along at a quick enough pace to cover over the fact that it's characters with only so much personality to get them through the picture (i.e. Fishburne's a drunk and violent, which suits him fine as he appears to have rolled right out of bed before some shots). But mentioning film-noir in this context should, I hope, be meant as a compliment. Antal works in a style that is indebt to the far away past of crime thrillers as much as more modern fare that ask for action over character development. It's nice to see an action flick without CGI, and the actors are game for the film aiming for simple, meat-and-potatoes B-movie roots. It can work just as well seeing it in a theater, or on video, or late night on cable (the latter sounds about right really), and seeing it once, it's not a disappointment. That it's also kind of forgettable is also a little sad.

At the heart of almost every truly great crime thriller is a carefully considered, methodically planned-out high stakes super-crime, which 9 times out of 10 is committed by a bunch of likable, grey-scale morality underdogs for who life isn't fair, for whom getting back at the man is, well, something worth cheering for. First-time screenwriter James V. Simpson's script for Armored gets this half right. He made extra-double-sure that we've got nothing but sympathy for the recently orphaned, Iraq war veteran Ty Hackett (Stomp the Yard's Columbus Short), who's about to have his house taken away by an evil bank (brother, I've been there). And he gave Ty a good family friend in Mike (Matt Dillon) who is super nice and gets him a job at the armored car company that he works at with Baines (Lawrence Fishbourne) and some weird French dude (Jean Reno). These guys like to have fun and play pranks, but they are also serious armored car guys too, so that means they carry guns and are tough.

After a short while, as one theoretically watches Armored, one might start to think as I did, that maybe - just maybe - this is going to be some kind of awesome, tongue-in-cheek, cornball heist movie with some on-the-nose characterizations that move the story along its natural course, cranking up the personal stakes of all involved in hopes of unveiling a really, really clever plan with lots of potential 'holy sh*t' moments. I mean, the music alone is textbook heist-movie - gritty, edgy beats working overtime as we're treated to close-ups of characters who say things like "As a matter of fact I do," and "Are you crazy??" For 45 minutes or so, the movie had some serious genre-flick potential.

Then things start to really stink. These dudes, these idiots, have no plan. There's no "Ok, here's what we're gonna do..." scene, no blueprints, no explosives, no black van or ski-masks (despite their 'test-run', as can be seen in a trailer). No, these guys are going to steal $42 million dollars from their own trucks (which are only being tracked by HOURLY contact over the radio, despite being equipped with some fancy, big-deal 'GPS technology'), and they aren't even going to sit down and discuss it. Hell, Mike only tells Ty about the plan the night before, which is completely ridiculous. But of course, Ty's got his house to think about so as long as Mike promises that 'no one will get hurt,' he's on board. Guess what, though. Somebody gets hurt. Why? Because, besides driving the trucks into an abandoned factory to hide the money, they have no plan. That was it. That was how far they thought things out. So, naturally, things start to unravel. These cats deserve everything they get for being so unprepared.

This script, frankly, feels like it's like the product of some bad improv game: "Armored Car, robbed by its own guards...GO!" Despite some half-decent buildup that could have maybe taken the film in a few interesting directions, the story just completely falls apart, and pretty soon, NOTHING makes sense, or is even remotely plausible.

When filmmakers don't have a cool "hook" for their heist, their characters seem stupid, and bungling. And when characters are stupid, and bungling, it's hard for an audience to invest in them, and their story. And when that happens, any suspense drains out the bottom of the movie, leaving a laughable, hollow husk.

Skip it. 3/10

A newly employed security guard, Ty Hackett, is not prepared for what his new colleagues are up to. Ty, an Iraq war veteran, has seen danger during his stint as a soldier. As an initiation rite, Ty is given the scare of his life, when the armored truck in which he is riding in the back, suddenly stops in an isolated area and some assailants come to rob the armored vehicle. Little does he know it is a practical joke, a sort of a hazing, and a welcome to the ranks.

Mike Cochrone, a leading figure among the guards, decides to let him on a secret: the guys have planned to steal forty-two million dollars from one of the banks. According to Mike, they have the perfect plan. Ty, who is having financial problems of his own, is the sole supporter of his small brother. The house in which they live will be repossessed if Ty cannot come up with the money he owes. Mike's offer seems tempting, but Ty is basically an honest man, who is not at all convinced to join ranks with the others.

This action packed crime story, directed by Nimrod Antal, takes a different path to others of the same genre. Written for the screen by James V. Simpson, it show how a perfect, and well planned heist goes wrong because Ty's decision not to cooperate. The men will do anything in their power to eliminate, but his experience in Iraq comes handy in fighting his fellow workers.

Matt Dillon, at his most sinister, plays Mike, the leader of the bad security guards. Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich, and Amaury Nolasco are part of the gang. Columbus Short made an impression with his take on Ty Hackett.

Although not one of the best movies of this genre, "Armored" will not disappoint fans of this action packed thriller.

What a bad movie, the premise was all there, the actors were all there. And yet a believable plot, good dialogue, characters to relate to were somewhat missing.

Typical heist gone wrong premise set against a backdrop of everyman being shafted by the system. The lead character Tye and his little brother have been having no luck and their house is going to be repossessed, along comes godfather Matt Dillon (Who does not look much older than Tye so not exactly sure how that happened)to the rescue with a plan to steal money from an armoured van which they work on as security guards. Tye has a brief flirtation with a conscience but decides to go along with it. And thus begins a truly awful hole ridden 30 minutes of unbelievable trash. I will not list all the ways in which this movie was unrealistic but let me point out the major ones:

Because of Tye deciding to be a good guy because a homeless guy became collateral damage, all of his close friends including his godfather die. His godfather who is supposedly family and the man who brought him into the caper at the last minute to help him out dies because of Tye. Tye in the process of thwarting his friends and godfather destroys all the money. The money came from the same bank that was repossessing his house. And yet he chose it over the supposed family of Matt Dillon.

There are many more, needless to say that this film was tripe and I earnestly hope nobody else goes to see it.

I am so angry to the point i normally down make reviews with spoilers but in this case I'll make an exception.The first scenes of this movies are weak and then when they get to the meat and potatoes of the movie it sucks. This is one movie were i rooted for the bad guys because the captain-save-the-day was unbelievable and there was no connection to him or nothing to make you like him. The lead actor gave the weakest performance and Laurence Fishburne or Matt Dillon couldn't even save this movie. Sometime there are eye openers or great moments in a film that may not be that great..this movie has none. If you are looking for a movie to see in the meantime while nothing peeked your interest...don't choose this one..save your money.

I rented this movie thinking that it would be a mindless action movie but I thought it had a pretty good plot with some good acting. The movie's about some armored car drivers that decide to rob one of the cars they drive. I thought Columbus Short did a good job playing the main guy and Matt Dillon played a good bad guy. I thought Laurence Fishburne did a pretty good job as the slightly psychotic guy in the group. I haven't cared much for him lately in CSI. I wonder if this might have been a more interesting movie if Ty had gone along with the robbery and then felt guilty afterward. All in all I thought this was a movie with a good plot and plenty of action too.

Ty(Columbus Short) is up against it. He's haunted by the war in Iraq, having returned a veteran decorated for his heroism, tormented by the many deaths he witnessed during his tour. His parents dead, two mortgages with banks demanding payment, and not enough shifts at work available to make ends meet. But all of this is a drop in the bucket compared to what happens when his fellow workers, including godfather Mike Cochrane(Matt Dillon), decide to heist $42 million, their jobs as armored truck drivers carrying the motherlode affording them the opportunity to set up a scam where they can claim to have been robbed while in the act of transporting the loot. No one was supposed to get hurt.

In a moment of weakness, Ty decides to go along with Mike and company's plan, until a hobo is shot dead thanks to Baines(Laurence Fishburne)who gets trigger happy with his shotgun. The others who take part in this plan include Quinn(Jean Reno), Palmer(Amaury Nolasco), and Dobbs(Skeet Ulrich, who looks and acts like a nervy junkie). When Ty tries to walk the shot-in-the-back hobo to a hospital, Mike shoots the poor guy in the head..Ty responds in kind by hiding inside one of the armored trucks, almost able to flee the warehouse where a lot of the money is removed and hidden(the truck Ty "confiscates" also has money inside)before Mike drives him into a crash which halts such an almost successfully orchestrated operation.

Things go from bad to worse when Mike informs his colleagues that they'd kill Ty(as he listens on in shame and disappointment)and allow him to be the hero who died while protecting them. So they will try their damnedest to break into the truck to get Ty, but have only 40 minutes until they must call headquarters to communicate to their boss, Duncan Ashcroft(Fred Ward), about the load being stolen..its important that the drivers call in every so often to establish how things are going.

Like we often see in movies, when money and greed take hold, friendship and loyalty go out the window and all that matters is the green. Ty retains his integrity and dignity while watching his mentor, Mike, metamorphose into this evil monster(the cold look in Dillon's eyes as he acknowledges his betrayal to Ty is plenty disturbing). We see that Fishburne is always capable of shooting someone as he holds his shotgun in his hands just looking for an excuse to kill. Milo Ventimiglia is a cop, Jake Eckehart, who stumbles upon Mike and his men, gut shot by Baines, and rescued while bleeding profusely by Ty. What I think works for the film is the question of how Ty would be able to keep himself from harm as everyone he once trusted plan to murder him. Of course one way to possibly get him to surrender would be to kidnap his brother, Jimmy(Andre Kinney), threatening the teenager's life if he doesn't give himself up.

I'm glad Fishburne currently has his gig on CSI because it allows him to flesh out a character he isn't able to in movies like ARMORED & PREDATORS which consist of unsavory sorts who have limited participation..Fishburne seems to be in these films for his name recognition. ARMORED is the case where a whole cast of interesting names can do little to enhance a rather simple, short action thriller. Most of the film is set within the warehouse as the numbers dwindle thanks to Ty's smarts and level-headedness, able to think during crisis as his fate seems ominous to say the least. Because Dobbs isn't like the others, he does try to help Ty when he appeals to the young man for assistance, paying the price, while Palmer, who clings to his bible yet fails God when the lure of moohla draws him to the dark side, yields to his guilt when he commits murder. Dillon, as the ringleader, is on a mission to retrieve a big payday, no matter who he has to eliminate in order to do so. ARMORED, ultimately, has as predictable an outcome as you'd expect, a straightforward plot which ends with the bad guys getting their just desserts. The motivation behind the plot to steal the money comes from a heist which involved Ashcroft who took two bullets to the back which crippled him..it's believed that the heist was pulled off by actual armored truck drivers not criminals. The plot doesn't have a lot of meat, and there's not much to the movie besides the group trying to get their hands on Ty as he tosses a wrench in their supposed fool-proof plan..what you see is what you get. Strong central performance from Columbus Short(whose name is down in the credits, funnily enough)does provide the film with an anchor. The running time might be an asset, at only 82 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome.

this movie is sooooo bad that it forced me to create an account with IMDb just to warn others about it.

i have been using IMDb for a long time, and many movies have come close to making me want to register to either praise or bash them, however none have ever been that worthy. Until now!

I am a huge Matt Dillon fan. all i could ask myself throughout this movie is "how did Dillon choose this script"? really. i mean there are holes in it larger than Vredefort.

i mean it is a modern day heist movie, not one set in the seventies. For crying out loud, even a child knows that armored trucks have gps tracking and the sort. makes you wonder what it takes to get a script produced in Hollywood.

i could go on for ages, but i wont. believe me when i say this. save yourself the time and give this a skip.

Sorry Matt, I'm still a fan, but this movie sucked.