Takers DVD Review

By Prairie Miller    

Criminals come in all types, but we don't usually expect them to cross social and economic lines and get together for major mob heists. And though Takers doesn't bring much in the way of new material to the crime thriller table, there's certainly an innovative cross-cultural concept at work, as Wall Street meets the mean streets of LA in collaborative masterminded mayhem.

Directed by John Luessenhop (Lockdown) and scripted by nearly as many writers as compose the den of combo white collar and ghetto high IQ connivers in question, Takers mixes upscale and inner city perpetrators with an assorted melting pot of immigrants from around the world, and varying degrees of malice on their minds. Including Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Michael Ealy, Chris Borwn and Hayden Christensen.

Somewhat of the ringleader but also the least trusted among them, is Ghost (Tip "T.I.'' Harris), an ex-con with a reckless attitude. Upon his release from prison, Ghost pressures the gang into embarking on a multi-million dollar scheme to rob an armored truck, while turning downtown LA into what seems more like an Iraqi war zone.

Though what appears like a dress rehearsal, involves calling in their own bank robbery to the cops, so a television chopper that shows up can be hijacked for a quick getaway. Gangsters in the audience across America will likely be kicking themselves for not thinking some of this stuff up first.

Improbably turning up on the scene to sort things out, is the never disappointing Matt Dillon no matter which side of the law he's on, as LAPD Detective Welles. A jaded old school cop with insubordinate and excessive force tendencies, Welles finds himself up against these new school patrician perps who seem to be taking over everywhere through a combination of futuristic firepower and an unusual alliance among every type of multi-cultural crooks in collusion around.

The accent here is on the slickly conceived action, which rarely dulls. But the overcrowded cast of generically conceived teflon coated conspirators combined with too many over the top preposterous scenarios, gives Takers less a sense of grounding in reality, than a bad guy fantasy fueled by an overload of extreme imagination.

DVD Features: Filmmaker and Cast Commentary; Promotional Music Video: "Yeah Ya Know (Takers)" by T.I.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated PG-13
2 1/2 [out of 4] stars

Prairie Miller is a NY multimedia journalist online, in print and on radio, and on WBAI/Pacifica National Radio Network's Arts Express. Read more reviews by Prairie Miller. Contact her through NewsBlaze.

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