Hurricane

Like I always say, I write only because of one of the three reasons:

1) if the movie is extremely good 2) if people are unnecessarily bashing a good movie 3) if it has a low rating.

I decided to write this review because of 1st reason.

I expected a Low-Budget action movie (B-movie in short), in the likes of Dolph Lundgren, Steven Seagal and Van Damme but it was surprisingly better one. I can not call it a B-movie, it is somehow in-between a B-movie and the big-budget action movies of Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It does not have story development or planning of those big action movies but it is original, funny and has a really good Hurricane (best part of the movie). Go, forget the world, grab something to eat, sit and enjoy. you will not watch it 2nd time but for one time watch, hell yeah :)

There are times when all I want to do is to sit in a darkened movie theater, turn off my brain, and let a movie with a silly, over-the-top premise wash all over me. THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS films are an example of an "A" in this category. Last year's GEOSTORM was a "B" (it was so over-the-top that it was fun, especially when the meteorologist declared - as if he was reciting Shakespeare - "Oh my God, it's a GEOSTORM!"). Unfortunately, a "C" example of this is THE HURRICANE HEIST.

Directed by Rob Cohen - who brought us the original FAST AND FURIOUS film lo' those many years ago - THE HURRICANE HEIST tells the tale of a HEIST set during a...anyone?...HURRICANE. That's pretty much all you need to know of the plot. The rest is action, escapes, weather gone bad, bad guys being bad guys and good guys being good guys.

The good guys are Toby Kebbel (so good as the motion capture bad-guy ape in DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES), perennial "B"-movie actress Maggie Grace (TAKEN, LOST and the immortal HOT GIRL, FAST CAR, EATING A BANANA) and Ryan Kwanten (I guess he was in TRUE BLOOD). What do these good guys have in common? They are not hard to look at on the screen. The two men also have really bad Southern accents.

The bad guys are led by Ralph Ineson ( a perennial "that guy" in such films as STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE) and a host of "red shirts". The problem is that Ineson plays his bad guy role as a "that guy" and the "red shirts" have no personality at all. One guy tries to be the "loose cannon" but he doesn't go far enough, nor does Ineson or ANY of the bad guys.

Oh...did I mention Ben Cross (Sarek in the new STAR TREK films)? Cross leaped off the screen in the Oscar winning film CHARIOTS OF FIRE way back in 1981 and was going to be "the next big thing". How has that worked out for him? I'm sure he's making a nice living, but...

But...you don't come to this kind of films for the acting. You come to it for the insane premise, the over-the-top acting, the out-of-this-world stunts and special effects. Unfortunately, THE HURRICANE HEIST plays each one of these "safely". The premise is insane, just not insane enough. The acting is melodramatic - just not over-the-top. The script doesn't really have any "oh-my-gosh, did he just say that" lines and the action, stunts and special effects are pretty good, (maybe even good), but not great.

A pretty mediocre time at the movies. It did serve it's purpose, I turned my brain off for two hours. I just wish it didn't power down as well.

Letter Grade: C (thanks for trying)

5 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)

When I saw the overall score of 4/10 I didn't expect much. It's far fetched and unrealistic in a lot of areas. However the 100 minutes flew past. It's action packed pretty much all the way through. Ok there's some moments of poor acting and there's plenty of places you will say to yourself "no way would that happen", but overall it's well worth watching. Just don't expect a blockbuster. I thought giving it 5 was a little unfair so I gave it a 6/10.

I didn't really expect much of this movie, but I got surprised, it was definitely better than expected. It is sort of a Fast & Furious style movie. Definitely entertaining.

If you can get away with scientifically inaccurate movies with ridiculous plots, and enjoy a cinematic experience of good CGI and over-the-top action, this is your movie. Forget all those critics who would like all Hollywood movies to be like Gone With The Wind or Amélie and just enjoy this disaster movie.

Also, acting is good and plot makes even more sense than other movies like 2012 or Geostorm. I guess it got bad reviews because, as it uses to be, cast has no well-known actors in it.

If you like movies like Volcano, The Day After Tomorrow, Deep Impact, San Andreas or The Towering Inferno, you will like this flick.