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SYNOPSIS:
After a bank heist goes bad with dozens of hostages being
taken, bank robber Lorenz (Wesley Snipes) demands to negotiate
with Detective Conners (Jason Statham) who previously botched
a hostage situation that led to the death of a female hostage
and the dismissal of his partner.
Dragged
out of suspension by his superiors to handle the mess, Conners
is partnered with rookie cop Dekker (Ryan Phillippe). After
the bank robbers escape both Conners and Dekker discover that
the bank robbery was a smokescreen for an even bigger heist.
Now, the new partners start following a trail of conspiracy
that could lead back to people both could never have suspected.
MOVIE
REVIEW
Everyone loves a good old heist movie. “The
Italian Job”, “Oceans Eleven” and the recent
“Inside Man” just to name a few. On the Asian
side, Johnny To has his “Running Out of Time”
franchise. It’s a theme that will never run out of fashion.
In
this 2005 straight-to-video Canadian production, Jason ‘Transporter’
Statham is a cop named Connors who is paired up with a rookie,
Dekker played by pretty boy Ryan Phillippe (“Flags of
our Fathers”) to remedy a hostage situation in a bank
robbery led by a mysterious stranger, you should have guess
by now it’s Wesley Snipes in one of his many forgettable
roles after Blade Trinity.
Connors
himself is under suspension for botching a hostage situation
earlier but since the robber calls for him, his duties are
resumed. That’s when things start to get interesting
and throws you in a wind whirl.
Except
for an explosion in the beginning and a car chase, I’m
genuinely surprised that the rest of the movie is pretty toned
down and instead, relies heavily on Ryan’s character
to carry the weight of the movie. It’s weird to see
Ryan Phillippe mouthing mumbo-jumbo about chaos theory, Buddhism
and dissecting the facts of the case on hand. But surprise,
surprise, credit has to be given when it’s due for he
has grown as an actor over the years. Gone are the days of
Cruel Intentions.
Snipes
on the other hand is totally wasted in his role, missing for
the major part of the movie, his biggest contribution perhaps
is his name on the poorly Photoshop DVD cover. Our favourite
British thug, Statham manages to keep both his legs unspilt
this time round and tag along Dekker mouthing sarcasm at times.
I
wouldn’t say “Chaos” would rank along as
one of the best heist movie in cinematic history. Despite
remaining relatively unknown to the mainstream audience, “Chaos”
has enough twists and turns to keep the plot moving without
resorting to massive pyrotechnics, violence or gratuitous
nudity to grab your attention.
If you have 100 minutes to spare and prefer a little, smarty
thriller, choose “Chaos”.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
code 3 dvd comes with English and Chinese subtitles with a
soundtrack and visual quality that borders on passable. .
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
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