La banda del Antrax

It is well-known that kidnappings are quite common in Mexico. This particular film focuses on such events in Mexico City. The police there are busy chasing after kidnappers and successfully catching them, by showing up in massive numbers, complete with machine guns and smoke grenades.

One of the policeman ("Det. Amescua", played by Eleazar Garcia Jr.) , however, is corrupt. He organizes kidnappings himself! After acquainting himself with a beautiful young executive ("Jimena", played by Marisol Santacruz) he rounds up about a half-dozen petty criminals and convinces them to carry out his big plan: They will do all the dirty work, and he will be in the background directing them, as "El Jefe" (the boss).

The petty criminals grab the young woman and hold her in an abandoned building. She is terrified and wants to escape. As they await further instructions from El Jefe, they argue among themselves. And meanwhile, the police are conducting an investigation using all their mighty resources. The clock is ticking!

This was an okay movie, all in all. I do have some criticisms. The background music was a little loud, making the conversations difficult to follow. (Spanish is not my first language, but still!) Also, the music was sometimes poorly matched for the scenes... definitely a distraction. The petty criminals also did not seem mean enough; there was something silly about them, almost like they were harmless. And finally, the police's approach of taking a small army everywhere seemed overdone. With that amount of firepower, maybe the criminals AND the kidnap victims might be shot.

I give this movie a 6/10.