Band of Robbers (2016)

A Disappointing Continuation

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Mark Twain fans might be slightly disappointed by the portrayals of their favorite characters but it's best to see it as more as a modern day homage to the books than anything else.Also a heavy dose of crude humor, it's a comedy of errors first and formost more so than the epic adventures of the books it is inspired by. Set in present time our dear Huckleberry Finn is a ex con and Tom Sawyer is his childhood friend who ended up becoming a police officer, albeit for no noble reasons.Kyle Gallner is always good and he is definitely the best actor in this film and delivers a lowkey but very good performance as Huck, Adam Nee is entertaining as Tom but his character is pretty one dimensional... But so are most of the other characters.After seeing Stephen Lang being absolutely brilliant in 'DON'T BREATHE (2016)' I must say I was a little let down by his (too) mild performance in this one.But overall the performances are good enough.There were a couple times where I thought they should have wrote this or that differently in the script but overall the plot is also good enough.So yeah overall, no masterpiece but... good enough 6.5/10.

This little flick is amusing and fun. It has nothing to do with the Mark Twain characters of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn outside of it is the names of the two main characters played by Kyle Gallner and Adam Nee. The story starts with these two as childhood friends and then jumps forward to them as adults. One (Gallner) being released from jail the other (Nee) a mostly half hearted policeman.They get back together, now adults, to continue their search for a legendary treasure of gold they have been seeking since childhood. In this pursuit they cross paths with numerous underworld criminal types. There is suspense, guns, chase scenes, etc. Not too much to be said about this movie outside of it being fun but mostly forgetful due to it's episodic editing. It's worth seeing for lite entertainment.

This could have went so wrong. I'm thinking of when they did this in Hook and turn Peter Pan into an adult, but Band of Robbers works really well.The acting was superb. So was the writing. From the moment you see Huck Finn and Tom on the screen you got the feeling of two dudes who never out grew who they were as children and it was fantastic.Tom and Huck still looking for treasure and adventure and they seem not to care about who gets in there way.As a whole, the movie was a great expedience to watch. It was a quirky funny and a little dark.

Attempting to adapt Mark Twain's most beloved characters into a modern day story seems like an audacious and terrible idea. But, surprisingly, the indie film "Band of Robbers" manages to pull it off. It has completely captured the essence of the character Tom Sawyer with all of his unrelenting energy, immaturity and imagination. True to form, this 'adult' version of Tom continues to travel through some fantastical version of life, with his every action propelled by a thirst for adventure and glory. In less talented hands Tom might have come off as obnoxious or unrealistic, but Adam Nee is so charming as Tom that he makes you WANT to believe that a person like this can exist. If you have never read Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer" or "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," you will have no problem jumping in and enjoying this quirky and fun-loving caper. But if you have read the books, you will be all that much more impressed with what writers and directors Aaron and Adam Nee have achieved.