It's a very nice attempt. But the plot holes just annoy.
The cast did well in this, the action scenes were good...
But
*SPOILER WARNING*****************************
1. Donny talks to cops. Agrees to work with them. Cop then proceeds to blow his cover. WTF?
2. Gerald Butler's character is a douchebag to the point of being so abrasive his character comes off as cartoonish. Completely unlovable except for the fact we have to keep reminding ourselves we like him as an actor. The emotionally broken cop routine with marital problems...again.
3. The whole 50 cent daughter dating scene.... Yeah it was cute, but why? They totally destroy the tone the movie is trying to set with that gag reel scene.
4. The discussion about never taking him alive. Saw this in Heat. Was a much better scene.
Saw it in Point Break. Was a better scene.
5. Plot twist realization scene....Usual Suspects anyone? I'm surprised we didn't have the Kobayashi voice over.
6. The plot twist. WHY???!! This film didn't need it!!!
7. If they knew each other, what was with the driving audition scene for? he didn't even drive in any of the heists!!! Fast & Furious maybe? I dunno.
8. The Federal Reserve job...So many technical details would have to have been gleaned. Right down to the fact that there was a vent in the room for him to hide. Listening to people talk in a bar....No inside help. The enormity and scale of such a job and they just go along with it.
9. Decoy bank job. Or whatever that was. Yup. You want to double and triple your risk exposure.
10. Open firefight with ex-marines on crowded highway initiated by police. Pretty sure you don't engage like that unless it's safe to do so, to minimize civilian casualties.
11. Gerald Butler spotting their getaway vehicle and them in it from a large distance away. (Okay whatever, I'm going to let this one slide)
12. No chain of command where Gerald Butler works. Ok. About as dumb as the unofficial informant that he almost got killed.
13. The cutesy ending where he's in a bar in london smiling broadly and putting on a British accent. Yeah that scene does not work in a film where the crew he was going to doublecross all died in brutal gunfights. That type of scene is reserved for movies that end happily. Is this film trying to be Ocean's Eleven or Heat? Why would he even need to be doing another heist if he just got 30 million that he had to share with one other person??
This movie tried to be too many things. You're either gritty like Heat or Dark Blue or End of Watch or anything by Michael Mann or you're a happy ending Heist flick.
I was really digging the beginning scenes, so much potential, the cast was great, could have pulled off a gritty flick that would have stood the test of time, but instead the director/writers whoever pulled their punches and tried to please everyone. Sorta.
I didn't write this to trash the movie. I can see some decent effort was made. The missed opportunity here was a shame.