A botched heist and family values ​​clash

While the heist genre deals with crime, there is often a code of thieves that endures. Features like Heat, Thiefand Raffi they highlighted this aspect in their story. Now, Armor hope to join the list thanks to Sylvester Stallonehis stoic performance. Director Justin Routt places his thief at the feet of an immovable—an ex-cop with his own form of justice. While there are aspects of Armor that fit the dudes being dudes subgenre, too many moments fall into tropes to really elevate the film to the upper echelon of heist features.

Armor – The plot

Ex-cop James (Jason Patrick) struggles with alcoholism and his quest to stay sober. He took a job as a security guard and helped his son Casey (Josh Wiggins) get a seat next to him. After picking up a shipment of unusual cargo, they are ambushed on a bridge by a professional crew of thieves. Led by “Rook” (Sylvester Stallone) and “Smoke” (Dash Mihok), they flip the armored vehicle on its side and try to make their mark. However, when James and Casey realize they won’t leave the scene alive, they mount a defense.

Too many trouble tropes Armor

When tropes become too commonplace in a film, the action set-pieces feel much less successful. In many moments of Armorit’s not only predictable, but it feels like a karaoke action movie. There’s a robber (Mihok), the obviously corrupt bank manager, and “hidden” trauma that’s screaming to come out. These aspects miss Armor from the start. Not only is it less compelling, but it makes the drama feel contrived. The convenience of the experience removes the stakes.

Plus, a heist movie is at its best when it pulls one on the audience and the characters in the story. That’s never in the game Armor. If the action film is to deviate from this path, it must offset the stakes of the emotional performances. Instead, the stock nature of the characters makes it easy to tell everything you know about each man from the first moments on screen. Routt slightly telegraphs these aspects of the story, resulting in an unsatisfying experience.

Sly and Patric are not doing their best.

More than any other problem they face Armor there are two flat performances at the top. Stallone and Patric may headline the film, but they seem to walk through it. Stallone, in particular, feels like a copycat. He barely mumbles his lines and lets the movie come to him. There are times when an action star shows up for their paychecks, and that seems to be Stallone’s approach here. As the sleepwalker wanders through the story, we’re left wanting more, especially since he has the most cocky part.

Meanwhile, Patric can’t bring any dramatic weight to his story. He exaggerates the haunted look, and Routt exaggerates the cuts to the “water bottle” that the ex-cop can’t put down. At the end of the film, he reveals that he is far from sober, and even his son calls him out on how obvious his alcoholic tendencies were. There’s something interesting about a person being so self-deluded that they think they’re getting by sober. However, Patric barely modulates from his negativity, which sinks the film’s most exciting moments.

it is Armor is it worth watching?

There are simply too many better action movies to spend your time on Armor. If you are interested in seeing the actors Stallone and Patric, we recommend that you focus on the supporting characters. Both Wiggins and Mihok bring much more interesting performances to the screen. Mihok gets to sing really big and the disoriented approach suits his performance style. Meanwhile, Wiggins is proving he can hold his own and outshine the veteran actors around him. These two are the reason to tune in, but knowing that most will show up to check out the headliners, you may not find Armor as you like.

Armor releases in select theaters and on VOD on November 22, 2024.

Armor Review: A botched heist and family values ​​clash

Sylvester Stallone and Jason Patric star in Armor – a new heist movie that pits an ex-cop against a seasoned thief.