219.
Widows
7/10
Widows is a heist movie that I was actually looking forward too. The trailer gave the main plot away as a group of men meet their end, only to leave their partners in some sort of debt in the local crime lord. The cast is huge and highly recognisable, bringing together Liam Neeson, Viola Davis, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodrigez and Jon Bernthal to name but a few. The move looks a lot darker than the likes of Ocean's Eleven and other heist movies, with a lot for gun action and explosions. I'm just hoping this doesn't take the simple route and holds plenty of twists that I can enjoy.
The movie begins by introducing us quickly to all of the main characters and their relationships with each other. Davis and Neeson's characters are married and seem pretty damn happy about it too. The story quickly moves on to the four main men completing their heist, being chased by the cops and as they attempt to exit their safe house they are shot in their van, causing it to explode and kill them all. I am instantly wondering what the hell was in that truck or what bullets were they using! Veronica, played by Viola Davis is now alone. As we cross over to a little side storyline, we follow Farrell's character named Jack Mulligan, who is running for a political position as his dad once did. The stories begin to cross as Viola is laying her husband to rest and Jack is at the funeral.
There is also another at the funeral A man named Jamal is claiming that Neeson's character Harry, stole two million dollars from him, which is the money he needs for his own political campaign. He shows he isn't messing as he grabs the pet dog by its neck and chucking about the threats. She has two weeks to get the money back and she better had. I want to see nothing happy to a dog for their mistakes!
The other women have now fallen on hard times with the losses of their husbands so a team is put together after Veronica finds one of Harrys' big heist plans. Each woman will bring their unique talents to this heist and even with plenty of nervousness and sometimes disagreements, they start to get their plan in motion. Everything is starting to overlap some more as this Jamal fella has found out about Harry's plan and heist book that Veronica has, so he's back to ask more questions. After she lies about selling the book, the story of the ladies progresses and another lady joins the gang after she gets caught up in seeing her hairdressing job's owner having to give over a wad of money to Jack Mulligan's men in order to keep the shop open. Things do actually fall apart a little though, which always happens in this kind of flick. One pays too much of the van and can't even drive, another has problems buying guns without documents but this is soon rectified.
Alice ends up getting some extra cash through escorting and one guy she sees is actually a real estate exec who notices the blueprints for the plans and knows instantly that they are to the Mulligan's home. Veronica also meets the final wife who hasn't joined the heist so far. She apologises for this and puts it down to the fact that she has a new-born and with this information, Veronica decides not to tell her the plan and get her involved in any way. Another hiccup though as Jamal's men have visited their driver and Harry's old driver and kill him, leaving the team searching for a new one and using that hairdresser. In order to find some help with Jamal, Veronica turns to Jack who isn't too helpful. He believes that it sounds like a Harry problem that now Veronica is left to deal with. This isn't Veronica's main reason for being around though and the other girls aren't too far away. They are inside and outside, scoping out the area ready for their heist to take place.
A couple of days later, Veronica and the dog head to visit Amanda, the wife with new-born. At first, she doesn't answer the door, putting it down to the baby but they all head inside and the dog starts to act a little weird. Running off and barking at a door, it wakes up the baby and Amanda heads off to shut it up. Veronica notices a flask in the kitchen, one that looks like her late husbands and as the dog is still going at that door, she heads to the handle, ready to open it, hoping that her thoughts are wrong. Instead, she picks up the dog and leaves. God damn you woman, we all know what was behind that door! She drives off in tears as Amanda opens the door and we see Harry sitting on the edge of the bed. We are then treated to a flashback of him setting up his men in the truck and firing a shot to make sure the police fire back. He then sets off the explosives, killing his team and escaping. I knew there was too much explosion there for just some bullets! He then heads to meet Jack Mulligan who had ordered Harry to steal the money from Jamal, who he s running against. The flashbacks carry on further, showing his strained marriage and the fact that his young son as killed by a police officer in a mistake killing.
Now it's time for the heist. The girls have found some dodgy pictures that the local security guy had lying about and using this to blackmail him, they manage to bypass security and even getting the code for Mulligan's safe. With devices that disguise their voices, masks put on, they work their way through the house and begin to make their way back out again. One door opens and out pops the Mulligan's father. He shoots Alice and Linda ends up shooting him and killing him. They leg it out to the van, only to find their drive held at gunpoint by one of Jamal's men. He's here for the money and steals the van but with the ladies giving chase and turning complete badass, they cause a crash, killing the guy and getting their loot back. Next, they need to finally drop Alice off at a hospital before she bleeds out.
Veronica is the first to make it back to the ladies hideaway. There, Harry is sitting, ready to give an explanation for his actions and Veronica breaks down. He admits that he was looking after his new family of Amanda and the baby and as he turns to kill his widow, she shoots first, killing him and leaves the gun in his hand, along with leaving the money with him. The movie continues to close as Jack wins the election with a sympathy vote for his old man's death. The salon owner opens the shop to a big bag of money, Alice is starting her own business, whilst Linda buys back the shop that she lost with her husband no longer bring in the doe. Veronica is later seen at a restaurant with a random fella who she gives a load of money to, to build a new library and name it after her late son. Alice sees her from another table and the two embrace outside not long after.
I really enjoyed this heist movie because it went against the grain to an extent. Now it does have the normal falling out and stumbling that comes from the team but this time it was a little darker. There were actually bullets flying and hitting their targets, death and a deeper underlying story, whether that was from the main twist at the end of the movie or the corrupted political story. Each lady had their own ambitions for the money and an agreement to go their separate ways afterward, another scenario we never really see. This meant that each actress and even the actors involved managed to bring something different to the main screen. Between the nervous bumbling lady to the fierce leader, each base was covered. Viola Davis keeps upping the game right now but my main stand out in this movie was someone I haven't even mentioned was in the movie. Carrying on from the great display in Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya plays Jamal's brother and 'action man', getting killed off at the end but to see this guy in a villainous role made me feel like the guy has been doing it for years. Definitely my stand out star of this movie. If we look at a little of the bad, there did seem to be too many messages trying to be told. Racist cops, black power, corrupt politicians, abusive husbands and women power all filled into only a couple of hours confused the situation at times. The woman power aspect of this though didn't feel forced. It wasn't one of those franchises that have already been successful that got a spin-off and recasting such as with Ghostbusters or Oceans 11, which made this more enjoyable as it really wasn't over-compensating and trying to be something that it wasn't.
The movie begins by introducing us quickly to all of the main characters and their relationships with each other. Davis and Neeson's characters are married and seem pretty damn happy about it too. The story quickly moves on to the four main men completing their heist, being chased by the cops and as they attempt to exit their safe house they are shot in their van, causing it to explode and kill them all. I am instantly wondering what the hell was in that truck or what bullets were they using! Veronica, played by Viola Davis is now alone. As we cross over to a little side storyline, we follow Farrell's character named Jack Mulligan, who is running for a political position as his dad once did. The stories begin to cross as Viola is laying her husband to rest and Jack is at the funeral.
There is also another at the funeral A man named Jamal is claiming that Neeson's character Harry, stole two million dollars from him, which is the money he needs for his own political campaign. He shows he isn't messing as he grabs the pet dog by its neck and chucking about the threats. She has two weeks to get the money back and she better had. I want to see nothing happy to a dog for their mistakes!
The other women have now fallen on hard times with the losses of their husbands so a team is put together after Veronica finds one of Harrys' big heist plans. Each woman will bring their unique talents to this heist and even with plenty of nervousness and sometimes disagreements, they start to get their plan in motion. Everything is starting to overlap some more as this Jamal fella has found out about Harry's plan and heist book that Veronica has, so he's back to ask more questions. After she lies about selling the book, the story of the ladies progresses and another lady joins the gang after she gets caught up in seeing her hairdressing job's owner having to give over a wad of money to Jack Mulligan's men in order to keep the shop open. Things do actually fall apart a little though, which always happens in this kind of flick. One pays too much of the van and can't even drive, another has problems buying guns without documents but this is soon rectified.
Alice ends up getting some extra cash through escorting and one guy she sees is actually a real estate exec who notices the blueprints for the plans and knows instantly that they are to the Mulligan's home. Veronica also meets the final wife who hasn't joined the heist so far. She apologises for this and puts it down to the fact that she has a new-born and with this information, Veronica decides not to tell her the plan and get her involved in any way. Another hiccup though as Jamal's men have visited their driver and Harry's old driver and kill him, leaving the team searching for a new one and using that hairdresser. In order to find some help with Jamal, Veronica turns to Jack who isn't too helpful. He believes that it sounds like a Harry problem that now Veronica is left to deal with. This isn't Veronica's main reason for being around though and the other girls aren't too far away. They are inside and outside, scoping out the area ready for their heist to take place.
A couple of days later, Veronica and the dog head to visit Amanda, the wife with new-born. At first, she doesn't answer the door, putting it down to the baby but they all head inside and the dog starts to act a little weird. Running off and barking at a door, it wakes up the baby and Amanda heads off to shut it up. Veronica notices a flask in the kitchen, one that looks like her late husbands and as the dog is still going at that door, she heads to the handle, ready to open it, hoping that her thoughts are wrong. Instead, she picks up the dog and leaves. God damn you woman, we all know what was behind that door! She drives off in tears as Amanda opens the door and we see Harry sitting on the edge of the bed. We are then treated to a flashback of him setting up his men in the truck and firing a shot to make sure the police fire back. He then sets off the explosives, killing his team and escaping. I knew there was too much explosion there for just some bullets! He then heads to meet Jack Mulligan who had ordered Harry to steal the money from Jamal, who he s running against. The flashbacks carry on further, showing his strained marriage and the fact that his young son as killed by a police officer in a mistake killing.
Now it's time for the heist. The girls have found some dodgy pictures that the local security guy had lying about and using this to blackmail him, they manage to bypass security and even getting the code for Mulligan's safe. With devices that disguise their voices, masks put on, they work their way through the house and begin to make their way back out again. One door opens and out pops the Mulligan's father. He shoots Alice and Linda ends up shooting him and killing him. They leg it out to the van, only to find their drive held at gunpoint by one of Jamal's men. He's here for the money and steals the van but with the ladies giving chase and turning complete badass, they cause a crash, killing the guy and getting their loot back. Next, they need to finally drop Alice off at a hospital before she bleeds out.
Veronica is the first to make it back to the ladies hideaway. There, Harry is sitting, ready to give an explanation for his actions and Veronica breaks down. He admits that he was looking after his new family of Amanda and the baby and as he turns to kill his widow, she shoots first, killing him and leaves the gun in his hand, along with leaving the money with him. The movie continues to close as Jack wins the election with a sympathy vote for his old man's death. The salon owner opens the shop to a big bag of money, Alice is starting her own business, whilst Linda buys back the shop that she lost with her husband no longer bring in the doe. Veronica is later seen at a restaurant with a random fella who she gives a load of money to, to build a new library and name it after her late son. Alice sees her from another table and the two embrace outside not long after.
I really enjoyed this heist movie because it went against the grain to an extent. Now it does have the normal falling out and stumbling that comes from the team but this time it was a little darker. There were actually bullets flying and hitting their targets, death and a deeper underlying story, whether that was from the main twist at the end of the movie or the corrupted political story. Each lady had their own ambitions for the money and an agreement to go their separate ways afterward, another scenario we never really see. This meant that each actress and even the actors involved managed to bring something different to the main screen. Between the nervous bumbling lady to the fierce leader, each base was covered. Viola Davis keeps upping the game right now but my main stand out in this movie was someone I haven't even mentioned was in the movie. Carrying on from the great display in Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya plays Jamal's brother and 'action man', getting killed off at the end but to see this guy in a villainous role made me feel like the guy has been doing it for years. Definitely my stand out star of this movie. If we look at a little of the bad, there did seem to be too many messages trying to be told. Racist cops, black power, corrupt politicians, abusive husbands and women power all filled into only a couple of hours confused the situation at times. The woman power aspect of this though didn't feel forced. It wasn't one of those franchises that have already been successful that got a spin-off and recasting such as with Ghostbusters or Oceans 11, which made this more enjoyable as it really wasn't over-compensating and trying to be something that it wasn't.
