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"Temptation takes a hold of six guys manning a security van in this low-budget thriller, but despite an intriguing premise, it doesn&amp;#039;t really go anywhere. For Matt Dillon, who gets top billing, Armored is also the latest example of underachievement in a career that smacks of unfulfilled potential. The same could be said for director Nimrod Antal whose exploits in Hollywood (including 2007&amp;#039;s Vacancy) have failed to recapture the sharpness and tension of his Hungarian breakout film Kontroll (2003). Up-and-comer Columbus Short (Stomp the Yard) is ostensibly the star of the show as Ty, the archetypal &amp;#039;rookie&amp;#039; who joins the security crew fresh from the killing fields of Iraq. He&amp;#039;s presented as the grudging hero and just in case there was any doubt about his all-round good-guy credentials, he&amp;#039;s given the responsibility of raising his unruly fourteen-year-old brother (Andre Kinney) after the death of their parents. The threat of the boy being taken into care is the only reason he agrees to get on board with the robbery plot masterminded by jaded driver Mike Cochrane (Dillon).  It&amp;#039;s difficult to see how else such a shining beacon of gosh-darn goodness would be persuaded to veer onto the dark side, especially because Dillon plays Cochrane like the devil in a blue collar. Instead of sincerely conveying the moral complexity of the situation (because, after all, it should be a victimless crime), he whispers cool platitudes in Ty&amp;#039;s ear about the debt Uncle Sam owes to him. It&amp;#039;s blatant manipulation, but that sums up a script that is rife with clich\u00C3\u00A9s. The lead-up to the job leaves little to subtext, including Ty&amp;#039;s admission that, &amp;#039;Damn,&amp;#039; (forty-two million dollars), &amp;#039;is a lot of money...&amp;#039; and the slightly sheepish look on his face when he receives a medal for valour (by special delivery) just before boarding the van. Among other stock characters, Laurence Fishburne phones it in as Baines, the borderline psycho who is constantly drawing attention to his itchy trigger-finger. Jean Reno does his usual silent but deadly bit as Quinn, and Skeet Ulrich (another once-promising talent) is the nervous, pale and sweaty one. The action is restricted to an abandoned industrial park where they aim to stash the cash, but it&amp;#039;s a hapless tramp who throws a spanner in the works and finally satisfies Baines&amp;#039;s urge to pop a cap in somebody&amp;#039;s ass. It&amp;#039;s Cochrane who finishes the job though, prompting Ty to lock himself in the van, make wide eyes in the window and wonder what to do. Ty may be clueless, but with each scene sign-posting the next it doesn&amp;#039;t take a genius to figure out who else is going to fall and in what order. Trying to mix things up a bit is a passing cop (Milo Ventimiglia) whose honesty is flagged up by his willingness to pay for his hotdogs rather than accept freebies. His capture is a minor diversion slotted in to give Ty something else to do besides twiddling his thumbs whilst Baines and Cochrane slowly take the doors apart. Not for a moment does Cochrane express any doubt about the plan which is spiralling out of control and that drains the story of genuine suspense. When the script does allow small room for interpretation (like Cochrane assuring Ty he wanted to &amp;#039;protect him&amp;#039;), Dillon sticks with the obvious baddie approach. The big finale is equally uninspired. In all, it just doesn&amp;#039;t pay off.  &amp;gt; What do you think of the movie? Share your views "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/review/a197917/armored/>