Patrick Vuong | word mercenary: the keyboard, his rifle. the alphabet, his ammo.

Armored: Brief Movie Review

Posted on | December 7, 2009 | No Comments





Everything about this movie screamed, “Predictable Cheesefest!” Yet somehow I ended up liking Armored. Quite a bit, to boot.

This Matt Dillion-starring heist flick reminded me of early 1990s action movies, kinda a combination of gritty crime thrillers like New Jack City and hard-hitting violent flicks like Die Hard 2. Old fashioned (in a good way) in terms of aesthetics, Armored emphasizes tension based on the characters and (thankfully) not on mindless CGI or vomit-inducing editing.

It is an effective action thriller for two reasons:

  1. The premise is straightforward: What happens when a team of armored truck guards steals $42 million…then finds one of their own turn against them?
  2. James V. Simpson writes a screenplay that keeps the characters aren’t too complex yet quite real, thereby allowing the suspense to build atop their flaws and hubris.

Plus, despite the trailer giving away much of the plot, there were still several surprises that kept the movie from falling into B-movie territory.

I give it 3.75 stars out of 5.

Category: Movies, Screenwriting, Script Critique
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Patrick Vuong

Pronunciation:
\pa-trik\ va-ong\

Function:
noun (person)

Definition:

  • 1. Optioned screenwriter

    2. Wordsmith based in LA area

    3. Film critic, Black Belt magazine

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