Writer: Anne Jamaludin

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Watch this if you liked: “The Italian Job”, “Ocean’s Eleven”, “Street Kings”, “Inception”

Everyone in this world is after something for their own purposes, and that is the main theme highlighted by "Takers". A group of professional criminals led by the founder, Gordon Cozier or G (played by Idris Elba of "Obsessed"), including an ex-soldier named John Rahway (Paul Walker), college grad A.J (Hayden Christensen) and two close-knit brothers, Jake (Michael Ealy) and Jesse Attica (Chris Brown) becomes the police force's main target. Their bold heist and smooth exit caught the ever-vigilant eyes of police detectives Jack Welles (Mat Dillon) and Eddie Hatcher (Jay Hernandez). Nevertheless, when one of the original member as well as the co-founder of the group, Ghost (T.I) made a surprise visit just when the others are celebrating and assuming their extravagant bankrolled lifestyle, the group is once again tempted by one final high-risk armed robbery attempt involving an insane amount of $30 million in cash despite having doubts on Ghost's rather dubious intention.

Moviegoers who have watched "The Italian Job" or "Street Kings" would definitely see the almost similar concept in "Takers" but nonetheless, the action sequences and strategy the team use in the movie becomes the major saviour of the whole lot. Screenwriters may have also intended to feature John and Jack's characters as the main leads. However, it's obvious that the credits are equally shared among the sizable list of renowned actors. That's what you get when you rope in stars of the same magnitude!

On another interesting note, rapper Clifford 'T.I' Harris Jr. also acts as one of the producers for the movie, while Chris Brown gets billing as one of the Executive Producers for the movie. Director John Luessenhop makes a very big gamble for his decision to rope in the two famous rappers into the star-studded line-up. Fortunately, their characters came out surprisingly remarkable than expected! This movie just might be the big Hollywood break for these two mega names in the hip-hop music scene. On the other hand, Hayden Christensen improved a lot on his acting since we last saw him in "Awake". His young, carefree yet serious persona in "Takers" balanced out the superb hard acting of his veteran co-actors.

There are plenty of scenes to watch out for in the movie though it is not entirely possible for anyone to miss it! The fast-paced flow of the plot will definitely get the audience on the edge of their seats with anticipation, especially during the final confrontation scenes. Whether they succeed in drawing the final curtains with glory or despair, the audience will have to find out by themselves.

This slick heist crime thriller successfully garnered USD$21 million at its first few days of release and overall, the reviewer believes that "Takers" deserves four out of five stars because of the implausible line-up (ladies would love all the men!) and the action sequences (which will be rooted by the guys). "Takers" has the attraction factor to both ladies and gentlemen, making it the most anticipated box-office movie amongst fans of the action-crime genre!

Cinema Online, 25 October 2010