The Hurricane Heist (2018)

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Sure, not going to win any awards, but who cares? It's a great movie to just sit back and enjoy. Lots of great action, some laughs, and a way out there heist plan that naturally all goes very, very wrong.This isn't some subtle heist like the Oceans movies. This is a bunch of crooks taking advantage of a storm and getting outdone by a some people who were in the wrong place at the right time.The special effects were surprisingly good. The acting was quite well done for this type of movie. And the scenes were well set up and easy to follow (none of that million cuts action scene nonsense that a lot of big movies seem to be doing for some reason).Definitely a fun movie to sit back and enjoy.

"The Hurricane Heist" did pretty poor business when it was released to theaters. While a number of factors probably doomed it, ranging from poor marketing to no big stars in the cast, I think the ultimate reason that did it in was that for the most part it's very generic and unoriginal. Oh, there are a few new things here and there, but they are throwaway moments, and the screenplay apart from those moments goes down a very familiar road. You'll be able to predict most of what happens long before it actually unfolds on the screen. The movie might still have been saved with some skillful directorial touches, such as good action and suspense. But the movie feels surprisingly boring, even when the title weather activity is at its most fierce. The dull direction probably explains why none of the cast manages to perform in a way that catches our interest or sympathy. In the end, what we have here is a very uninspired B movie, albeit one with slicker production values than usual.

Sometimes a person wonders why nonsense movies like "The Hurricane Heist" are being made. It's a mixture of "American Heist" with "Into the Storm". Actually, this disaster film (all aspects of this movie are kind of a disaster by the way) looks like "Den of Thieves". Here too a gang of criminals get the bright idea of stealing money which is doomed to go through the paper shredder. Money that's about to be taken out of circulation and so no longer will exist. Only the savvy bank robbers hoped that the authorities would think that the stolen money (squeezed in three whoppers of trucks) disappeared because of an onrushing hurricane (category 5). The amount of money they want to steal is around $ 600 million. The makers had better raised their budget with a few million too, so they could improve the rattling script, a few failing actors and the lousy special effects. At some level it really was a disaster.So, you won't be blown away by "The Hurricane Heist". However, the beginning was very promising. A flashback in which the young Will and Breeze try to escape from another impressive hurricane, together with their father. An ill-considered and stupid decision makes that the boys have to watch with dismay how their father is being steamrolled by a flying silo. Trust me. There are more stupidities to admire in this film. This disastrous event affects the lives of both boys to some extent. Will (Toby "Kong / Koba" Kebbell) becomes an experienced and expert meteorologist (although he's more of a storm chaser). After all these years he still tries to find the cause of these weather phenomena. And of course a solution to prevent them. Probably a sort of Freudian reaction to save his father after all these years. Breeze (Ryan Kwanten) is completely the opposite. A fatalistic nobody with a "je mon fou" attitude. Probably he tries to forget the event in this way.Will should have checked with the robbers. Apparently they were initiates in the secrets of the origin of hurricanes. You have to be a Nobel Prize winner to know weeks beforehand that in the vicinity of a U.S. Treasury facility a hurricane of category 5 will show up. And they could determine exactly that the eye of the hurricane would cross that place. The timing was crucial. Otherwise they wouldn't know when to hack the paper shredder (ever heard of a paper shredder connected to the internet?) and disable them so that the money would pile up. What follows is a "Die Hard"-like rescue operation with the meteorologist Will playing the role of knight in shining armor who's willing to help the lovely, female security guard Casey (Maggie "Aftermath" Grace) in derailing this inventive, malicious plan.The gang is led by the self-assured Perkins (Ralph Ineson). The most humane bank robber I've ever seen in a movie. This villain doesn't want the robbery to become a bloodbath. So everyone is neutralized with a sedative they probably use for elephants I guess. He also has an exceptionally deep voice. I'm sure the singer of The Crash Test Dummies would be jealous. What this gang has not taken into account is the fact that hurricane Tammy has a sense of justice. It always acts in favour of the honest trio. The bank robbers fall prey to the rough elements of nature and they have to hold on to anything they can grab. While cars are blown away like feathers by Tammy, you see our heroes calmly standing with still a perfect looking hairstyle. The hubcaps Will uses as a projectile, won't hit him in the face, but are accurately flying around the corner by use of the powerful hurricane. And wait for the scene in a mall where the roof is torn off and our heroes are catapulted into the air while hanging on a cable. And next you'll see them descending as angels on a rope. No need to say it doesn't end well for the bad guys. In other words, it looks ridiculous sometimes."Hurricane heist" may be about a category 5 hurricane. The film itself is no more than a weak low pressure area. Perhaps it all looks action packed and swirling (how appropriate). And perhaps it's a film where exceeding the limit of credibility is allowed. But this was a bit exaggerated. To be honest, already from the beginning I had a feeling this movie might be a disaster. The moment a skull appeared in the black storm clouds (something similar as in "The Mummy"), I was sure of it. Indeed, "Hurricane Heist" is about a robbery during a hurricane. But it sure isn't "The perfect hurricane heist".

6/13/18. An okay story with great special effects. Acting not too bad. If you like weather-based disaster movies, you might enjoy this one - just for the special effects.