The Takers

I watched The Takers a couple of weeks ago. I saw that it had Matt Dillon, Hayden Christiansen (Anakin Skywalker), and Idris Elba (Stringer Bell - The Wire). Couldn't be that bad, right?

The Takers is an action-packed movie full of unrealistic chase scenes where no one ever gets hurt. Plus the movie hoisted its plot directly from The Italian Job, then replaced the white actors with black actors. I guess when they called the movie The Takers, it meant that they took their plot from someone else.

I wasn't going to word it that way, but after I talked to several people and they said that very same thing I figured it was appropriate. The movie isn't terrible, but I've already seen it. It's difficult to say much more than that. Elba uses his British accent, which may throw you if you've watched The Wire, the realistic show about the high crime and political, union, educational, and media corruption in Baltimore.

In The Takers, Dillon plays this over-zealous tough guy that's just a bit too over the top. I may be understating that. He was way over the top. And he chases the group of bad guys who rob banks and armored cars.

The Takers is Rated R for plot theft, violence, language, and a partially nude scene. The movie is 107 minutes long, as opposed to The Italian Job, which was 110 minutes long. And, by the way, The Italian Job from 2003 with Mark Wahlberg is a remake of the movie of the same name from 1969 staring Michael Caine and Benny Hill.

Despite it's entire lack of originality, The Takers earned a top-notch 1.9 stars. Ugh...