ARMOR - Mark Reviews Movies

Armor, Lionsgate

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | November 21, 2024

The supposed logistics of the setup of Armor are important. Here's a movie that is primarily set at one location—an old, decrepit bridge in the middle of nowhere—and revolves around a single scenario—a standoff between a pair of security guards and a team of robbers. It's simple, and while there's something to admire about that, the movie also forces itself into a corner, without considering how to make the drama, tension, and action function.

It takes a bit to get to the showdown on that bridge, which is probably the first sign that screenwriters Cory Todd Hughes and Adrian Speckert are aware there's not much to do with such a limited premise. We meet James (Jason Patric), an armored truck driver, and his partner Casey (Josh Wiggins), who's also his son. James is also an alcoholic, hiding his drinking while running a local support group for other addicts, and somehow, he has kept up this deceit for six years.

We'll grant the movie that wholly unlikely deception, given that James is always surrounded by fellow addicts or his concerned son and works a job in which it's likely his employers would keep an eye out for such professional transgressions. The problem is that the screenplay doesn't do anything with this vital character detail, except to offer a lengthy, ultimately ridiculous flashback explaining the origin of James' drinking and to give us a particularly unusual plot device—namely Chekhov's Secret Bottle of Booze. The suggestion that the character's clandestine drinking is actually a vital component of his survival here probably isn't worth thinking about too much.

Anyway, James and Casey go about their rounds day after day, and the father finally accepts his son's invitation to have dinner with him and the son's pregnant wife (played by Laney Stiebing). The only good news for Casey is that he's too young to announce his retirement in a few days, or else, we might think he's completely doomed from the start.

Meanwhile, that gang of thieves, led by Sylvester Stallone's Rook, lock and load weapons, go over a plan to rob the truck, and stalk James and Casey's route in pretty plain sight. They don't seem especially good at their jobs, but at least that makes them fine matches for our armored truck guards, who seem to get as far as they do in the standoff out of dumb luck.

Take the setup for the showdown, which follows a chase down some country roads, leads the truck to the bridge, and pins it between two vans with about half a dozen robbers in total. It's meant to be a helpless situation, of course, and it looks that way, until director Justin Routt finally decides to show us the number of houses along the river the bridge crosses. That detail arrives when it does to hasten the robbers' need to get away before the cops show up, but if they haven't shown up after the noise of lots of gunfire and a couple of explosions and an industrial drill, the thieves are probably in the clear.

Before that inconsistency comes into play, though, the robbers flip the truck on its side with a perfectly placed grenade. The vehicle lands in an extremely odd and conveniently fortunate position, offering exactly the right amount of cover for the guards to survive, as well as sneak out and not be noticed by the thieves. Simultaneously, though, the position leaves the two to be completely exposed to gunfire whenever it's time to raise the stakes. How does that work? Well, it doesn't, so Routt makes sure to use a lot of close-ups and medium shots to cheat where the opponents are in relation to each other, as well as what they can and can't see or hear at any given moment.

Ignoring these basic issues, the setup's clever enough for a low-budget actioner (Stallone was likely paid well to glare and say some clichéd lines), but the actual execution of that idea makes decreasing sense with every turn. Trapped inside the truck, James and Casey hash out their relationship and the father's past, while not seeming especially concerned about how to get out of their perilous situation. They have a major, off-the-books bargaining chip to use with the thieves, by the way, but at no point does anyone even think to negotiate, because that might actually get everyone what they want and put a quick end to the standoff.

Logistics and a sense of strategy matter in a simple plot such as this one. Armor doesn't seem to agree, though, leaving this plot and these characters to look very dumb before the climax becomes even dumber.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products