Is 'Armored' (2009) Tough Enough?

Starring: Columbus Short, Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Amaury Nolasco, Milo Ventmiglia, Fred Ward, Skeet Ulrich, and Andre Kinney.

Directed by: Nimrod Antal.

Released: December 4th, 2009.

Newcomer director Nimrod Antal directs this action heist film, "Armored", which oversees the story of the brand new hire on the job (played by Columbus Short) who finds himself getting involved with the wrong crowd of tough guy co-workers - This includes Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, and Skeet Ulrich to name a few - All of these guys befriend the new employee and eventually try to lure him into joining their rat pack plan to rob one of the trucks they were hired to protect and transport safely.

Now, heist movies can be fun (like the "Ocean's Eleven" films and "Heat" to name a few). "Armored" is not a very smart heist film as there is no tension involved in the actual heist itself nor does it make us care about whether or not they succeed. This is not that kind of a movie. The actual heist here is not even the main focus, it's a bloody action film with lots of guns and tough guy antics. Right when the new guy abandons the group's plan and decides to 'do the right thing', he locks himself in the armored truck with the money and an injured police officer, then it turns into "Die Hard" in a truck all of a sudden.

This is perhaps one of the worst heist plans I have ever seen but, of course, this is a fictional movie so a lot of suspending belief comes into play here. When was the last time you heard about a pack of armed guards getting away with over $40 million dollars? I thought this just may be somewhat good at first, an attempt to analyze the pressures that blue collar men have to go through while working in an environment surrounded by riches.

There is too much in "Armored" that is unbelievable. For example, a police radio that works in an urban industrial surrounding? No thorough investigation of the hero after he saves the day just because he served in the Iraq war and saved the life of a police officer? This film is from the same director who is giving us "Predators", the third entry in the 'Predator' film franchise, this coming summer, I hope to God that "Predators" doesn't suffer the same script problems as "Armored".