This review of Marauders is spoiler free
** (2/5)
In Hollywood, there are only a small handful of memorable crime thrillers when the mass murderers, masked vigilantes or corrupt cops reign supreme; Triple 9 comes to mind. It seems for a while that Marauders tries to follow the same riff of that movie with the plot forming around a tight-knit team of masked vigilantes, with distorted whom are armed to the teeth with giant guns. Like Triple 9 this team aims at big banks run by bank tycoon Jeffrey Hubert (Bruce Willis) but it seems that this team of professionals don't take any money, thanks to the bank's owner but is there to this tycoon that meets the eye? Of course there is, the story soon transpires that he is helping these criminals for a more legitimate scheme it turns out that he coaxes the press to convince them that these bank robberies hitting his firm of banks, Hubert International as he is trying to hide some incriminating information surrounding his family. Then the film shifts to two FBI Special Agents, Stockwell (Dave Bautista) and Wells (Adrian Grenier) who are convinced that the masked vigilantes are part of a military platoon that suddenly went rogue so as they try to find the evidence to catch up with this team who are constantly outsmarting them unfortunately their evidence plateaus, just like the plot of the film.
Stepping into the second act, as the FBI think that they are getting closer to this team, they find yet another conspiracy that Hubert is behind the whole thing and it turns out that these so called criminals are helping the authorities discover the many conspiracy that are already spiraling out of control at this point. The film begins to get a little bit lazy being constantly over taken by the immense body count, the conspiracies and the plans for revenge which are also spiraling out of control. The film then suddenly strives around the plot that an unknown deceased military ranger is behind all these deaths, and for a while the FBI agents are convinced that this man is causing all this carnage in Cincinnati for a while the film continues to riff on this same plot line as the police find his prints at the growing list of crime scenes at this point the police believe that they are being outsmarted by this man, have you caught yet? Well prepare for yet another change, as the lazy plot continues to form these convoluted misinterpreted stories that take over most of the plot, the FBI agents, manned by Special Agent Montgomery (Christopher Meloni) begin to compromise on their footing to find out what Hubert, is up to so as they try to find some problems with his impressive plan, they are compromised themselves by the bank robbers but this time it seems that they are in a tight-knit fight this time leaving behind many bodies.
As the film goes on we are thinking that there must be a better plot hidden somewhere under the immense body count, the puddles of blood and the seemingly never ending schemes turns out there isn't, so while Willis, Meloni, Bautista, etc. are constantly getting lost in the films over-the-top, nonsensical and plain goofy plot Marauders, isn't all bad as there are a couple of saving graces to point out in this film; firstly the action sequences do their job to keep the movie somewhat stable, secondly there is a third act thrill that switches the tone of the film into thinking that the corrupt cop was involved the whole time. Marauders' denouement hits a blank that ultimately shouts out what really happened in just a few minute slot it's an intriguing bit that gives the whole film a lesson that the previous hour and forty-odd-minutes did it's best to muddy. While the film has a star-studded cast with some big time old and new stars it seems that at the beginning the film lays out a forty minute scenario that keeps us intrigued enough and makes us think, but then it delves into a story that becomes seemingly far-fetched to a point when it is down right goofy, it seems that we won't be seeing any rejoice in Willis' career for a while.
VERDICT: A noisy, disjointed and frankly lazy crime thriller that constantly gets lost in the far-fetched filled with clichés plot that for a huge chunk of the film is under the immense body count and the large puddles of blood.
** (2/5)
In Hollywood, there are only a small handful of memorable crime thrillers when the mass murderers, masked vigilantes or corrupt cops reign supreme; Triple 9 comes to mind. It seems for a while that Marauders tries to follow the same riff of that movie with the plot forming around a tight-knit team of masked vigilantes, with distorted whom are armed to the teeth with giant guns. Like Triple 9 this team aims at big banks run by bank tycoon Jeffrey Hubert (Bruce Willis) but it seems that this team of professionals don't take any money, thanks to the bank's owner but is there to this tycoon that meets the eye? Of course there is, the story soon transpires that he is helping these criminals for a more legitimate scheme it turns out that he coaxes the press to convince them that these bank robberies hitting his firm of banks, Hubert International as he is trying to hide some incriminating information surrounding his family. Then the film shifts to two FBI Special Agents, Stockwell (Dave Bautista) and Wells (Adrian Grenier) who are convinced that the masked vigilantes are part of a military platoon that suddenly went rogue so as they try to find the evidence to catch up with this team who are constantly outsmarting them unfortunately their evidence plateaus, just like the plot of the film.
Stepping into the second act, as the FBI think that they are getting closer to this team, they find yet another conspiracy that Hubert is behind the whole thing and it turns out that these so called criminals are helping the authorities discover the many conspiracy that are already spiraling out of control at this point. The film begins to get a little bit lazy being constantly over taken by the immense body count, the conspiracies and the plans for revenge which are also spiraling out of control. The film then suddenly strives around the plot that an unknown deceased military ranger is behind all these deaths, and for a while the FBI agents are convinced that this man is causing all this carnage in Cincinnati for a while the film continues to riff on this same plot line as the police find his prints at the growing list of crime scenes at this point the police believe that they are being outsmarted by this man, have you caught yet? Well prepare for yet another change, as the lazy plot continues to form these convoluted misinterpreted stories that take over most of the plot, the FBI agents, manned by Special Agent Montgomery (Christopher Meloni) begin to compromise on their footing to find out what Hubert, is up to so as they try to find some problems with his impressive plan, they are compromised themselves by the bank robbers but this time it seems that they are in a tight-knit fight this time leaving behind many bodies.
As the film goes on we are thinking that there must be a better plot hidden somewhere under the immense body count, the puddles of blood and the seemingly never ending schemes turns out there isn't, so while Willis, Meloni, Bautista, etc. are constantly getting lost in the films over-the-top, nonsensical and plain goofy plot Marauders, isn't all bad as there are a couple of saving graces to point out in this film; firstly the action sequences do their job to keep the movie somewhat stable, secondly there is a third act thrill that switches the tone of the film into thinking that the corrupt cop was involved the whole time. Marauders' denouement hits a blank that ultimately shouts out what really happened in just a few minute slot it's an intriguing bit that gives the whole film a lesson that the previous hour and forty-odd-minutes did it's best to muddy. While the film has a star-studded cast with some big time old and new stars it seems that at the beginning the film lays out a forty minute scenario that keeps us intrigued enough and makes us think, but then it delves into a story that becomes seemingly far-fetched to a point when it is down right goofy, it seems that we won't be seeing any rejoice in Willis' career for a while.
VERDICT: A noisy, disjointed and frankly lazy crime thriller that constantly gets lost in the far-fetched filled with clichés plot that for a huge chunk of the film is under the immense body count and the large puddles of blood.