The devious twists in Ben Hopkins’ fiendishly clever script are ably matched by the multi-faceted, meticulously detailed shoot that brings it to life, under the guidance of director David Mackenzie.
No surprise, given that Mackenzie also helmed 2016’s superlative Hell or High Water.
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| After getting called to a London construction site that has uncovered an unexploded World War II bomb, demolitions expert Major Will Trantor (Aaron Taylot-Johnson) cautiously tries to determine how best to proceed. |
The time is present-day, the setting a bustling Paddington neighborhood in central London’s Westminster. It’s morning, and a construction crew busily digs out a city block-sized site in anticipation of new development ... until the excavator uncovers a nasty surprise: the nose cone of an unexploded bomb (UXB) left over from World War II.
(This continues to be far from fictitious. Just a week ago, 2,000 people from more than 200 homes were evacuated when a UXB was discovered at the Falmouth Docks. It was safely removed on September 23.)
Police Chief Superintendent Zuzana Greenfield (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) supervises the evacuation of all nearby residents to Hyde Park, while military demolitions expert Major Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his team take charge of the site. They begin erecting a makeshift blast wall, while he tries to determine what type of bomb they’re dealing with.
Tranter’s right-hand man, Corporal Martin (Alexander Arnold), nervously anticipates his first exposure to live munitions.
The evacuation process proceeds fairly smoothly, with a few hiccups: an anonymous jerk who wants to go back for his laptop; and Rahim (Elham Ehsas), who needs help moving his wheelchair-bound father.
But the inhabitants of one dark apartment ignore the knock on their door, while waiting quietly for the evacuation fuss to die down.
And we realize ... they expected this.
Once silence reigns, with a square-mile evacuation perimeter established, the four men inside this apartment — outfitted in official orange Water and Sewer Department jumpsuits — spring into action. Only Giorgos Karalis (Theo James) is mentioned by name; the others are merely dubbed “X” (Sam Worthington), “Y” (Shaun Mason) and “Z” (Nabil Elouahabi). Karalis, apparently in charge, heads outside as lookout; “X” calls the subsequent step-by-step shots within the building.
Their target: the adjacent Bank Al Muraqabah, which they intend to breach by drilling through the shared brick wall and steel vault exterior. Their varied and impressively sophisticated equipment, clearly stored days (weeks?) in advance, bespeaks careful planning.
But their work does not go unnoticed. An overhead police drone spots their heat signature, and Greenfield sends a car with two officers to investigate.
Meanwhile, Tranter has discovered that the bomb has a few nasty surprises. Martin, although lacking his superior officer’s field experience, spots something unusual. Mindful of the chain of command, he nonetheless insists that it’s relevant, much to Tranter’s visible frustration, as he tries to retain crucial focus.
From this point forward — not even halfway into their film — Mackenzie and Hopkins mercilessly toy with us. Will the patrolling officers find anything? Will “X” and his crew successfully make it into the vault? If they do, will they escape? Are they after anything in particular?
And what about the bloody bomb?
Don’t even try to guess what comes next, because Hopkins tosses in far more hiccups than even the most imaginative viewer could anticipate. Just kick back, and go with the flow.
Mbatha-Raw is persuasively crisp, controlled and commanding as the Chief Superintendent; Honor Swinton Byrne is similarly detail-oriented as Greenfield’s second. Both are everything we’d want from those heading a police crisis response team.
Taylor-Johnson similarly brings world-weary gravitas to his role, his gaze meditative. Tranter has plenty of experience, with background service in Afghanistan, but every UXB clearly demands a unique approach. Taylor-Johnson radiates caution, but not concern; at the same time, decisiveness aside, Tranter clearly wishes this weren’t happening.
Worthington feels dangerous. Karalis’ supervisorial presence aside, “X” is this group’s alpha male, and — should push come to shove — he’ll obviously look out for himself, the others be damned. It’s nice to see Worthington bring his stoic gravitas to a deftly sketched human role, as opposed to his ongoing work behind special effects in the Avatar franchise.
Production Designer Amanda McArthur was kept quite busy, between the impressively high-tech layout of Greenfield’s operations center, and the tighter quarters of the heist team’s basement-level activities. Cinematographer Giles Nuttgens similarly balances the wide-open streets of the now-deserted neighborhood, with the claustrophobic darkness surrounding the aforementioned bank robbers.
Mackenzie and editor Matt Mayer build plenty of tension during the story’s nail-biting first act, although composer Tony Doogan’s relentlessly throbbing synth “score” gets old very quickly, and actually becomes distracting. Then, once events kick into higher gear, Mackenzie and Mayer charge into each fresh surprise with rat-a-tat ferocity; we can only hang on for dear life.
That, of course, is what makes this film so much fun.
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