Fuze

I didn't get the chance to see last year's Relay, but I was looking forward to seeing this film since I - like most people - love David Mackenzie's work on 2016's Hell or Highwater. It's a really good movie!

Unfortunately, while the first half of Fuze is incredibly tense and suspenseful, the second half of the film is infuriatingly stupid and convoluted.

So, in the film, an unexploded WWII bomb is discovered on a busy construction site in the center of London. This forces the military and police to begin a citywide evacuation, but, amid the escalating tension and chaos, a daring criminal operation is set in motion - one that uses the evacuation as cover for a meticulously planned heist.

Now, the part of the film that focuses on the heist is actually really engaging. David Mackenzie's sense of direction is great, the action sequences are engaging, and the performances are really solid. All of these elements did keep me on the edge of my seat.

I was so invested during this part of the movie that I honestly thought I was going to be one of the only few people who genuinely loved it. But, as the film entered into its second half, the plot started to twist and turn - and that's where everything fell apart for me.

I won't spoil any details here, but I will say that the story adds way too many unnecessary elements in the second half. Alliances are blurred, moral boundaries are crossed, and characters aren't who they appear to be. Which, to be fair, does sound interesting. But those elements definitely make the film lose its focus.

Watching the chaos unfold as authorities are racing against a literal ticking time bomb is undeniably entertaining. But watching a bunch of random characters backstab and double cross each other is far less engaging than the initial premise.

So, the unnecessary twists of the second half definitely bog down the rest of the film. Which is disappointing. Especially considering how engaging the first half actually is.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, and Sam Worthington are all good in their respective roles, but their performances aren't enough to really elevate the material here. As a matter of fact, I can't even tell you anything about their respective characters. And that's because the script is disappointingly thin. 

David Mackenzie clearly has a solid sense of direction, but the script is definitely the weakest aspect of the film. I mean, on top of featuring one-dimensional characters  and an overly convoluted plot, the movie also suffers from having a confusing message.

I have no idea as to what this movie is trying to say - if it's even trying to say anything at all - and I have no idea as to which character I'm supposed to be rooting for here. Because, instead of providing us with characters that feel morally ambiguous, the film provides us with characters that all lack a clear motivation.

So, once the film stops focusing on the bomb and on the heist, there's nothing left to care about. And that totally sucks!

Sigh...

I hope Mackenzie can stick the landing on his next project, but the second half of this film completely took me out of the story being told.

And that's exactly why Fuze would, unfortunately, not get a recommendation from me.