No Olho Do Furacão

If you can get away with scientifically inaccurate movies with ridiculous plots, and enjoy a cinematic experience of good CGI and over-the-top action, this is your movie. Forget all those critics who would like all Hollywood movies to be like Gone With The Wind or Amélie and just enjoy this disaster movie.

Also, acting is good and plot makes even more sense than other movies like 2012 or Geostorm. I guess it got bad reviews because, as it uses to be, cast has no well-known actors in it.

If you like movies like Volcano, The Day After Tomorrow, Deep Impact, San Andreas or The Towering Inferno, you will like this flick.

"The Hurricane Heist" (PG-13, 1:43) is an crime action thriller. Now, just to be clear, it does not involve someone trying to steal a hurricane. As silly as that last statement sounds, the actual premise is almost as ridiculous... but that doesn't mean it's not fun to watch. Just don't take it too seriously. This movie is fun similar to how the "Skarknado" movies are fun. It's not quite as over-the-top... but it comes close.

Unlike most heist movies, this one shows nothing about the planning of the caper, but rather shows it unfold as it happens, with no indication of what's coming next. A group of criminals (which includes multiple inside men - and women) is determined to rob a U.S. Treasury facility in Mississippi, allowing an incoming hurricane to run interference for them. The plot conceit that their plan (which was set into motion weeks earlier) was dependent on a hurricane coming ashore at Gulfport on cue is one reason this movie is ridiculous... but it does set up some good drama, exciting action and effective visuals.

The character who seems most interested in halting the heist is a woman named Casey (Maggie Grace), who is the Treasury agent on the scene. She joins forces with Will (Tony Kebbell), a meteorologist who is driving through the hurricane zone in his government-issued stormproof vehicle. Will seems to be the only one involved who knows exactly how bad this hurricane is going to get - and the only one who cares about the people who come to be held hostage in that treasury facility - when his brother (Ryan Kwanten) becomes one of them after he's called in to repair the main building's back-up generator.

"The Hurricane Heist" is a semi-good idea for a movie... which quickly blows any shot at realism. The backdrop of the job being pulled off under cover of a major storm does make for an original premise, but any shred of believability quickly flies out the window. When a hurricane cloud takes the form of a skull to mock two young boys after the storm kills their father, and an IT professional shows up for work at the treasury facility dressed as if she's going to a cocktail party and a string of incredible coincidences gets so many disparate people involved in the story, it was impossible to take this movie seriously... but that may be the point. As the plot ramps up, I felt free to revel in the ridiculousness. This film works as a heist film, an action movie and a disaster flick... if you can get past the inherent, pervasive silliness. "B-"

There are times when all I want to do is to sit in a darkened movie theater, turn off my brain, and let a movie with a silly, over-the-top premise wash all over me. THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS films are an example of an "A" in this category. Last year's GEOSTORM was a "B" (it was so over-the-top that it was fun, especially when the meteorologist declared - as if he was reciting Shakespeare - "Oh my God, it's a GEOSTORM!"). Unfortunately, a "C" example of this is THE HURRICANE HEIST.

Directed by Rob Cohen - who brought us the original FAST AND FURIOUS film lo' those many years ago - THE HURRICANE HEIST tells the tale of a HEIST set during a...anyone?...HURRICANE. That's pretty much all you need to know of the plot. The rest is action, escapes, weather gone bad, bad guys being bad guys and good guys being good guys.

The good guys are Toby Kebbel (so good as the motion capture bad-guy ape in DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES), perennial "B"-movie actress Maggie Grace (TAKEN, LOST and the immortal HOT GIRL, FAST CAR, EATING A BANANA) and Ryan Kwanten (I guess he was in TRUE BLOOD). What do these good guys have in common? They are not hard to look at on the screen. The two men also have really bad Southern accents.

The bad guys are led by Ralph Ineson ( a perennial "that guy" in such films as STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE) and a host of "red shirts". The problem is that Ineson plays his bad guy role as a "that guy" and the "red shirts" have no personality at all. One guy tries to be the "loose cannon" but he doesn't go far enough, nor does Ineson or ANY of the bad guys.

Oh...did I mention Ben Cross (Sarek in the new STAR TREK films)? Cross leaped off the screen in the Oscar winning film CHARIOTS OF FIRE way back in 1981 and was going to be "the next big thing". How has that worked out for him? I'm sure he's making a nice living, but...

But...you don't come to this kind of films for the acting. You come to it for the insane premise, the over-the-top acting, the out-of-this-world stunts and special effects. Unfortunately, THE HURRICANE HEIST plays each one of these "safely". The premise is insane, just not insane enough. The acting is melodramatic - just not over-the-top. The script doesn't really have any "oh-my-gosh, did he just say that" lines and the action, stunts and special effects are pretty good, (maybe even good), but not great.

A pretty mediocre time at the movies. It did serve it's purpose, I turned my brain off for two hours. I just wish it didn't power down as well.

Letter Grade: C (thanks for trying)

5 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)

These are the fakest southern accents I've heard in a long time. And cheesy acting. Also hurricane is blowing away cars and stuff but not people

I didn't really expect much of this movie, but I got surprised, it was definitely better than expected. It is sort of a Fast & Furious style movie. Definitely entertaining.