An unexploded World War II-era bomb is unearthed early on in the twisty, propulsive FUZE. What gradually becomes apparent is that the men in its radius possess the same hair-trigger volatility. At its core the director David Mackenzie derives suspense from an operation’s outright logistics, but intentionally fallible members. As a military team in central London attempts to temporarily disarm the explosive, so they can safely detonate it, the large-scale evacuation and blackout provide the perfect cover for another high-pressure enterprise. A bank heist.
Its a dynamic premise which the film skilfully wrings tension from by cross-cutting between the deli walk-on-eggshells handling the bomb and the unfettered violence, involved in sledge-hammering into a bank vault wall. FUZE’s thrumming score is obtrusive, but the rare moments of unnerving silence are crucial to its atmosphere of impending doom.
I do enjoy a good bank heist film. The more realistic it feels, the better. Kudos to screenwriter Ben Hopkins for what he serves up in FUZE. Sneaking into the vault of a bank in downtown London may seem impossible but the crew of thieves, at least this instance, have a decent plan. They planted a bomb on a nearby construction sites and mask the action to look like a harmless World WarII relic. Once discovered they call in the army’s top bomb disposal folk, shut off the power to the neighbourhood utility lines are found to run directly under the site and evacuate everyone within a one-kilometre radius. It serves as a perfect ruse and the robbers than pounce. With the bank closed and no one around, they tunnel through the wall of the adjacent building. There’s a lot of moving parts, cunning acts, surprising plot points with an exciting finale.
Thumbs-up to the cast which includes Theo James as Karalis and Sam Worthington as X, both bank robbers covering their plot to steal precious diamonds. Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the police Chief Superintendent, Zuzana who lives in the obligatory big screens control room. Editor Matt Mayer expertly blends their respective stories together through a fast-paced, energetic manner. For a a short runtime of 96 minutes its a fun watch. The director has a knack for staging stressful sequences both on the ground and below it, in pitch dark snd broad daylight while one team has each other’s backs, the other is constantly looking over their shoulders on edge at the likelihood of being double-crossed, though the water Brn Hopkins complicates our assumption of which nan fit into which category. The film’s plot strands eventually intersection, only to spread out, further and further introducing new locations, characters, allegations, like a getaway driver who knows he cant afford to slow down, FUZE guns its own engine. The ensemble’s best role is Aaron Taylor Johnson’s as Major Will Tranter, the bomb-disposal specialist.
Where the film shines is in its fast-cutting tension, evoking the grittiness and violence of a ‘70s heist flick. Its a perfect, fine viewing experience.
