A classic caper film is like going to see an orchestra. Even though you are already know what you are going to experience on that evening, but you're still able to be amazed by how well prepare they were. The Bank Job is a caper film alright. But calling a classic one might be out of reach. Although what you saw in the first half is very entertaining piece of storytelling, but I can't really say the same thing on the second half. It's a frustration that caused by various factors (more on that later). In the end, it just really left me out cold.
Formerly known as Baker Street (hands down, far more superior title), The Bank Job follows the true story of crime of the century (as they claim) in 70's era London, England, where a bunch of criminal (led by Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows) dug tunnel into the bank's vault, and then looted all the jewel & cash including items in client's safe-deposit box. A little did they know, there's a bunch of people who desperately need to retrieve those items back including secret photos of disgraced Britain's royal family, serious consequence ensured.
From a starting point to procedure of the caper, I feel really engaged by it. The atmosphere is just simply perfect. They indeed have a right look and mood to that era. In fact, it reminds me of another classic caper film like Rififi. They also have a right leading man; Jason Statham is back to his British's groove once again (as a 'straight guy' in Guy Richie's films). And I don't know that his research is having watched all Steve Mcqueen's films or not, but his persona is really like the man himself. They also cleverly introduced a bunch of characters through inter cut that promise you that they will somehow relate to each other in the end. For me, it's like watching Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels all over again
But after they got away with the crime, suddenly everything that works somehow stopped. I would say a sloppy directing and editing are the main reason behind it. The consequence that affected team members is simply generic. How generic? Let's see, good guys succeed, and then a casualty occurred (of course, some of them dead), and finally it's a payback time. It may be alright if they ran it with a groove that they found in the first half. But all of that didn't have a same energy like they did 30 minutes ago at all. And those sub-plots (about porn king's book and drug lord's photos) are badly executed. The emotion also shifted with no apparent reason. Like characters seem really desperate in this scene, and then they're back to extra cool in the next scene. Come to think of it, in the end, when Jason's partner in crime asked him why police were letting them go, Jason said "How the f**k should I know, just keep walking". I think this sentence is like the joke on itself.
Anyway, as I said before, everything else in this film are more than fine. The look and sound are cool enough to make us feel attached to that era (especially how they chose songs to play in it). In my opinion, good caper film is a rare breed nowadays (if you wanna call Steven Soderbergh & his pal's Ocean Trilogy as 'Caper film', then be my guess, because I prefer to call it as 'Vanity Project'). The Bank Job is the closest thing you can find, and having a right to call themselves as caper film.
Formerly known as Baker Street (hands down, far more superior title), The Bank Job follows the true story of crime of the century (as they claim) in 70's era London, England, where a bunch of criminal (led by Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows) dug tunnel into the bank's vault, and then looted all the jewel & cash including items in client's safe-deposit box. A little did they know, there's a bunch of people who desperately need to retrieve those items back including secret photos of disgraced Britain's royal family, serious consequence ensured.
From a starting point to procedure of the caper, I feel really engaged by it. The atmosphere is just simply perfect. They indeed have a right look and mood to that era. In fact, it reminds me of another classic caper film like Rififi. They also have a right leading man; Jason Statham is back to his British's groove once again (as a 'straight guy' in Guy Richie's films). And I don't know that his research is having watched all Steve Mcqueen's films or not, but his persona is really like the man himself. They also cleverly introduced a bunch of characters through inter cut that promise you that they will somehow relate to each other in the end. For me, it's like watching Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels all over again
But after they got away with the crime, suddenly everything that works somehow stopped. I would say a sloppy directing and editing are the main reason behind it. The consequence that affected team members is simply generic. How generic? Let's see, good guys succeed, and then a casualty occurred (of course, some of them dead), and finally it's a payback time. It may be alright if they ran it with a groove that they found in the first half. But all of that didn't have a same energy like they did 30 minutes ago at all. And those sub-plots (about porn king's book and drug lord's photos) are badly executed. The emotion also shifted with no apparent reason. Like characters seem really desperate in this scene, and then they're back to extra cool in the next scene. Come to think of it, in the end, when Jason's partner in crime asked him why police were letting them go, Jason said "How the f**k should I know, just keep walking". I think this sentence is like the joke on itself.
Anyway, as I said before, everything else in this film are more than fine. The look and sound are cool enough to make us feel attached to that era (especially how they chose songs to play in it). In my opinion, good caper film is a rare breed nowadays (if you wanna call Steven Soderbergh & his pal's Ocean Trilogy as 'Caper film', then be my guess, because I prefer to call it as 'Vanity Project'). The Bank Job is the closest thing you can find, and having a right to call themselves as caper film.