The Bank Job Review
by Clint Morris
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For someone whose
supposedly one of the world’s biggest rising film stars (not to
mention, someone who gets paid a-lotta-pound per film) Jason Statham
sure makes a load of shite.
Yes, I loved Transpoter and its sequel too, but can anyone honestly say Chaos, War, Crank, Revolver and Cellular are good solid films? No, you can’t. I’ve held slices of cheese more solid.
Funnily enough, it’s taken an Australian, Ballarat-born Roger Donaldson (Cocktail, The World’s Fastest Indian), to give the former swimmer turned action hero his best film – well, since Transporter 2.
The Bank Job,
though one of those films that takes about half-an-hour to grab your
attention, is one of the smartest, funnest and most entertaining films
Statham has done since his star rocketed as a consequence of working
with Guy Ritchie.
It isn’t an excellent film, by any means, but it’s also not the run-of-the-mill bores that Chaos and War were either. In some respects, it’s a sister film to Statham’s earlier work, Snatch and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels – it’s of the same mould, though arguably less comical.
The
film tells the true story of a robbery that happened 35 years ago where
a bunch of hired guns, or in this case, hired bank robbers, are
recruited to tunnel into the vault of the Baker Street Bank in London
to – they’re told – steal some photographs.
Instead, Terry
(Statham) and his crew discover much more than a few photographs of a
government official in a bondage parlour. Suddenly, the men find
themselves with some very precious stuff in their mitts – largely, some
uncompromising pictures of Princess Margaret, and also, a journal
naming every crooked cop in London.
It could’ve probably done
with a bit more fleshing out of the characters, a tad more humour, and
a bit more 'punch' up front, but for the most part, this Italian Job-esque caper is an engaging venture.
Even more so because it actually happened... 3.5 out
of 5 The Bank Job
Australian release: 31st July, 2008
Cast: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, David Suchet, Stephen Campbell Moore
Official Website: The Bank Job
Director: Roger Donaldson
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