Police inspector Dada is on the trail of a hacker and computer criminal called the Ghost. But when an attempt to arrest him goes wrong and nets only a lowly accountant, she is publicly shamed and suspended from the force. Her suspension is a cover, though, for her to recruit a team of folks to take him on from outside the law. This latitude lets her enlist people she's arrested herself and put their skills to use to infiltrate the Ghost's operation and get evidence that will let the legal authorities arrest him.
Tran keeps his action humming and the story doesn't ask much of the cast beyond working some familiar stereotypes -- the charismatic light-fingered con man, the aging forger, the nimble cat burglar and so on. They have a little extra touches of depth, like a past relationship between Dada and the con-man/magician Jack. Or that cat-burglar Linh and forger Luhan are daughter and father, and tween Linh gets a crush on Jack that embarrasses him and irritates Luhan. The story gives Linh and Luhan a couple of sweet bonding moments as well.
Heist comes together easily, taking advantage of Tran's familiarity with what has been a regular crew of actors. It's light, despite attempts to give some weight to the story of hacker Vi, played by Vietnamese rapper and pop star Suboi. It also doesn't really know where or how to end, stretching things out for one last con and twist despite not really setting the stage for them. Tran would have done better not aiming so high and just letting the caper nature of his story carry it over the finish line instead of getting artsy and serious. But the zippy running time and the competent cast counterbalance the missteps and make Heist a fun little...er...heist picture.
No comments:
Post a Comment