The fourth film feature from director Nimrod Antal, “Armored” features a blue-collar heist flick. The film begins with Ty Hackett (Columbus Short), a war Iraq veteran who returns home after achieving a Silver Star and a tin credit rating. However he is faced with huge dilemmas on how to raise his younger high school brother Jimmy (Andre Jamal Kinney), a graffiti artist and keeping the family home by paying the mortgage. Luckily his godfather Mike gets him a gig as the newest member of an armoured truck company, Eagle Shield Security. Mike, the standing leader of the group holds onto a good crew composed on Baines (Laurence Fishburne), Quinn (Jean Reno), Palmer (Amaury Nolasco) and Dobbs (Skeet Ulrich). Ty soon learns that he is the latest addition needed to complete Mike’s plan of looting $42 million from an armoured car they are guarding. Standing like bandits, they would call the heist in as a robbery, stick with the story, and enjoy the loot in an abandoned warehouse. Ty agrees to join in with the condition that no one gets hurt. However the situation goes complicated as the crew turn against each other.
Similar to Antal’s previous movies, what keeps this film afloat is his immense focus on the characters rather than the situations they are forced into. This allows for broad ground for character development. One other advantage of the film is how convincing the actors deliver their lines and the great chemistry shared by actors Dillon and Short.
Though the film has its share of pros, there are more notable cons for a feature based from a screenplay by first-time screenwriter James V. Simspon. His script clearly depicts his inexperience as the film is filled with several clichés happening one after the other. One such cliché is his notion of “last man standing” greatly overused in action flicks.
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