Stolen (2012) Directed by Simon West
It's clear that not all movies are made to impress but some are just
made to entertain. And this movie most definitely does not impress but
luckily it still is being an entertaining enough little action flick to
consider this movie to be a good and watchable enough one.
There are several problems with "Stolen", one being that the movie isn't being anything original to watch, making this a standard and mediocre movie, basically all the way through. You could say this movie is like being a combination of many different genre movies, while the movie itself is coming up with very little original of its own. Also funny how in some ways this movie subtly references to "Con Air", another action movie director Simon West and actor Nicolas Cage did together, prior to this film.
It's being an action movie with a significantly lower budget though, when comparing it to "Con Air". And this also truly shows in this movie. Really nothing all that spectacular happens in it and it mostly consists out of a bunch of formulaic shot car chases and the occasional gun- and fist fight. But please, don't watch this movie expecting it to provide you with big explosions and mind blowing stunts. It's definitely being a somewhat 'smaller' action flick, that also should had felt as a more personal and involving one.
That's another problem; you just don't ever care for any of the characters or what happens in its story. After all, you basically already know how everything shall progress and eventually end.
The story is just being a bit too simple and also too straightforward at times. It seemed as if the movie was trying to add some more dimensions to the story and get some more characters involved but it never really works out. Actors such as Danny Huston and Malin Akerman for instance are absolutely wasted in the movie and are given far too little to do to truly make an impact on its story. It seems that the movie was holding back and somewhat reluctant and preferred to take the safe and more standard approach to things, wasting every opportunity to make this a more original and also a more impressive and entertaining movie to watch.
But the movie its story was lacking more. It isn't always taking the most sensible approach to things and it often could had gotten to its point way sooner. It for instance takes far too long for the Nicolas Cage character to finally come up with a plan and starts executing it, making it almost feel like an afterthought and as a way to wrap things up quickly. Sometimes it really has some pacing issues; the one moment it takes the movie to long to make a point or allowing its action to kick in and the other it's coming too its point to early wand wraps certain things up too quickly.
It perhaps is also true it could had used a stronger villain in it. Josh Lucas is mostly just silly looking in this and doesn't ever come across as psychotic or threatening enough. But again, this also for some part might be due to it that the movie has a predictable story, that also progresses in a standard and formulaic way and you already know in advance how things are going to end. So perhaps it's not fair to put all the blame on just Lucas.
But really, these are all reasons why "Stolen" just isn't a perfect or even great movie to watch. Other than that, it remains a perfectly watchable one. It's not boring, it's not offensive, it's never truly bad. It's basically being just like most other 'low' budget modern action flicks, that take very little risks but still provide plenty of entertainment and also action to please the genre fans.
6/10
There are several problems with "Stolen", one being that the movie isn't being anything original to watch, making this a standard and mediocre movie, basically all the way through. You could say this movie is like being a combination of many different genre movies, while the movie itself is coming up with very little original of its own. Also funny how in some ways this movie subtly references to "Con Air", another action movie director Simon West and actor Nicolas Cage did together, prior to this film.
It's being an action movie with a significantly lower budget though, when comparing it to "Con Air". And this also truly shows in this movie. Really nothing all that spectacular happens in it and it mostly consists out of a bunch of formulaic shot car chases and the occasional gun- and fist fight. But please, don't watch this movie expecting it to provide you with big explosions and mind blowing stunts. It's definitely being a somewhat 'smaller' action flick, that also should had felt as a more personal and involving one.
That's another problem; you just don't ever care for any of the characters or what happens in its story. After all, you basically already know how everything shall progress and eventually end.
The story is just being a bit too simple and also too straightforward at times. It seemed as if the movie was trying to add some more dimensions to the story and get some more characters involved but it never really works out. Actors such as Danny Huston and Malin Akerman for instance are absolutely wasted in the movie and are given far too little to do to truly make an impact on its story. It seems that the movie was holding back and somewhat reluctant and preferred to take the safe and more standard approach to things, wasting every opportunity to make this a more original and also a more impressive and entertaining movie to watch.
But the movie its story was lacking more. It isn't always taking the most sensible approach to things and it often could had gotten to its point way sooner. It for instance takes far too long for the Nicolas Cage character to finally come up with a plan and starts executing it, making it almost feel like an afterthought and as a way to wrap things up quickly. Sometimes it really has some pacing issues; the one moment it takes the movie to long to make a point or allowing its action to kick in and the other it's coming too its point to early wand wraps certain things up too quickly.
It perhaps is also true it could had used a stronger villain in it. Josh Lucas is mostly just silly looking in this and doesn't ever come across as psychotic or threatening enough. But again, this also for some part might be due to it that the movie has a predictable story, that also progresses in a standard and formulaic way and you already know in advance how things are going to end. So perhaps it's not fair to put all the blame on just Lucas.
But really, these are all reasons why "Stolen" just isn't a perfect or even great movie to watch. Other than that, it remains a perfectly watchable one. It's not boring, it's not offensive, it's never truly bad. It's basically being just like most other 'low' budget modern action flicks, that take very little risks but still provide plenty of entertainment and also action to please the genre fans.
6/10
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