Nothing more than straight-to-iTunes dross was expected of this heist thriller. Actually, it offers up some pretty robust entertainment, with enjoyable performances. Director Rob Cohen – a veteran of Fast & Furious and The Mummy franchises – keeps his pedal in close contact with the metal throughout.
Brit Toby Kebbell showcases a serviceable American accent as the handsome young Alabama storm expert, Will, who tries in vain to warn the authorities that a terrifying hurricane is about to hit the state. He has reason enough to fear and hate freak weather conditions: his tempestuous backstory is laid out in the pre-credit sequence. But, however complacent the authorities are, a gang of desperate robbers does appreciate the danger and is fixing to use the meteorological crisis – with its inevitable suspension of normal protective law enforcement – to hit a truck full of US banknotes being driven by federal employees Casey (Maggie Grace) and Perkins (Ralph Ineson).
Ben Cross – still loved in my house for his performance as Harold Abrahams in Chariots of Fire – has a cameo as the grumpy old police chief. And as Will gets drawn into a desperate situation, he realises that he might be able to harness the weather itself as a weapon against the bad guys.
All entirely but watchably absurd, and Kebbell himself carries it off with some style and shows he’s got exactly the right leading-man chops. The whole thing is topped off with an outrageous three-truck convoy chase across a windswept plain, as the storm clouds roll in behind, complete with people running along the roofs of the vehicles and jumping from one to the other – whatever we actually know about the green screen realities, it’s still amusingly over-the-top.
