Five robbers start a fire in a building near the targeted bank as a diversion. When they get to the bank, they ingeniously enter in disguise. The two female robbers pretend to be somewhat average people, and the other male robbers disguise themselves as fire fighters, who block off the main doors to the bank.
James Franco, who surprisingly plays a serious (and good) character, is the main bank teller. He witnesses them start the robbery process, and gets tied down with other hostages. The robbers only manage to get around $70,000, which wasn't enough for them. Their goal was half a million, so they visibly get angry. Franco's character is willing to comply, and tells them about a super-spooky vault that no one touches or goes near, that is located in the basement of the bank, which ironically, no one goes into.
One of the robbers begins drilling this vault in the basement, but when they open the vault door, they get sidetracked by a strange figure at the end of the hallway. SURPRISE! This isn't just a bank robbery movie! It's also a ghost movie! I didn't have a problem with this combination of themes, because to me it was done right. This robber then approaches the figure, but gets surrounded by even more figures. They are ghosts, who drag him into the dark vault and torture him. This was okay, but that's not how ghosts work. I'll let it slide.
Throughout the robbery, James' character experiences traumatic flashbacks to a previous robbery years ago. He never makes mentions of this.
The leader of the motley creu suspects that a teller named Susan called the police somehow, but she denies it and says that the bank holds something dark. She explains that there are ghosts in the basement, and no one including security goes down there. She says that years ago a masked man robbed the bank. He took everyone hostage, and tortured them in the basement. He apparently made the hostages shoot each other, and burned the rest of them inside the vault located in the basement. He was unfortunately never caught. This is important backstory. One of the robbers goes down into the vault and manages to loot the money, and brings it back up to the rest of the group. They then find out that all of the bills were from 1982, which makes the leader angry. Another robber who was in the basement was cutting a water pipe as a way out since the entire bank was surrounded by police and SWAT units. He suddenly heard a woman cry for help, and being the docile protagonist of the group, went to investigate. He found a woman with a broken ankle, who was not of this time period. He had looked away for a second, but when he looked back at her, she turned into a disgusting monster/creature thing.
One of the other robbers somehow blows his own brains out with a shotgun because the ghosts made him do it. The robbers slowly die out, because of the ghosts, and not because of a police shootout or anything.
Apparently, the robber from the original robbery (the one who tortured the hostages and made them shoot each other,) was one of the ghosts in the basement. This really makes no sense since the teller said that he escaped, and was never caught.
The two female robbers are the only ones who make it out with the money. The hostages are then interrogated by police about the robbers, and what else happened on the inside. They all mention James Franco's character, who didn't actually have a job at the bank. Actually, he did. But back in the 1980's. This was the only good twist in the story.
It turns out that James' character was a ghost too! He was the one who made the 911 call that the robbers would hear if they picked up the phone to negotiate with the police outside.
Sadly, there was another plot hole. If James' character was a ghost not from this time period, then how did he know how to use this new-age technology? Must've been a quick write-in.
I actually kinda liked this movie. A LOT of plot holes, but they don't completely ruin the film. It's one of the very few roles where James Franco plays a serious character.
To me, it's a good movie. Something that I think could've been re-written to make a little more sense story wise.
Oh, I forgot the end of the movie. It was bad. The two female robbers meet up some time after the robbery, and do a trade-off with the money. For some reason, their car doesn't start. Apparently the masked criminal man who apparently died was tied to the money that they had stolen from the basement vault, because he appears behind them when they attempt to fix their car. We're left on somewhat of a cliff hanger, but it's pretty obvious that he kills them.
James Franco, who surprisingly plays a serious (and good) character, is the main bank teller. He witnesses them start the robbery process, and gets tied down with other hostages. The robbers only manage to get around $70,000, which wasn't enough for them. Their goal was half a million, so they visibly get angry. Franco's character is willing to comply, and tells them about a super-spooky vault that no one touches or goes near, that is located in the basement of the bank, which ironically, no one goes into.
One of the robbers begins drilling this vault in the basement, but when they open the vault door, they get sidetracked by a strange figure at the end of the hallway. SURPRISE! This isn't just a bank robbery movie! It's also a ghost movie! I didn't have a problem with this combination of themes, because to me it was done right. This robber then approaches the figure, but gets surrounded by even more figures. They are ghosts, who drag him into the dark vault and torture him. This was okay, but that's not how ghosts work. I'll let it slide.
Throughout the robbery, James' character experiences traumatic flashbacks to a previous robbery years ago. He never makes mentions of this.
The leader of the motley creu suspects that a teller named Susan called the police somehow, but she denies it and says that the bank holds something dark. She explains that there are ghosts in the basement, and no one including security goes down there. She says that years ago a masked man robbed the bank. He took everyone hostage, and tortured them in the basement. He apparently made the hostages shoot each other, and burned the rest of them inside the vault located in the basement. He was unfortunately never caught. This is important backstory. One of the robbers goes down into the vault and manages to loot the money, and brings it back up to the rest of the group. They then find out that all of the bills were from 1982, which makes the leader angry. Another robber who was in the basement was cutting a water pipe as a way out since the entire bank was surrounded by police and SWAT units. He suddenly heard a woman cry for help, and being the docile protagonist of the group, went to investigate. He found a woman with a broken ankle, who was not of this time period. He had looked away for a second, but when he looked back at her, she turned into a disgusting monster/creature thing.
One of the other robbers somehow blows his own brains out with a shotgun because the ghosts made him do it. The robbers slowly die out, because of the ghosts, and not because of a police shootout or anything.
Apparently, the robber from the original robbery (the one who tortured the hostages and made them shoot each other,) was one of the ghosts in the basement. This really makes no sense since the teller said that he escaped, and was never caught.
The two female robbers are the only ones who make it out with the money. The hostages are then interrogated by police about the robbers, and what else happened on the inside. They all mention James Franco's character, who didn't actually have a job at the bank. Actually, he did. But back in the 1980's. This was the only good twist in the story.
It turns out that James' character was a ghost too! He was the one who made the 911 call that the robbers would hear if they picked up the phone to negotiate with the police outside.
Sadly, there was another plot hole. If James' character was a ghost not from this time period, then how did he know how to use this new-age technology? Must've been a quick write-in.
I actually kinda liked this movie. A LOT of plot holes, but they don't completely ruin the film. It's one of the very few roles where James Franco plays a serious character.
To me, it's a good movie. Something that I think could've been re-written to make a little more sense story wise.
Oh, I forgot the end of the movie. It was bad. The two female robbers meet up some time after the robbery, and do a trade-off with the money. For some reason, their car doesn't start. Apparently the masked criminal man who apparently died was tied to the money that they had stolen from the basement vault, because he appears behind them when they attempt to fix their car. We're left on somewhat of a cliff hanger, but it's pretty obvious that he kills them.
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