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The story of a heist gone wrong is a common one in action movies. No matter how carefully everything was planned, something goes wrong, and the thief is forced to improvise to get away. But in Bullet Proof, the real trouble begins after the thief manages to get away.
Bullet Proof finds a thief (James Clayton) in a difficult position after a robbery doesn’t go as smoothly as expected. He gets away with a bag full of cash and only a bullet graze to his arm, but when he opens the trunk of the car he stole to get away, he finds Mia (Lina Lecompte), the pregnant wife of drug lord Temple (Vinnie Jones). Mia is attempting to escape her abusive marriage—and when the thief reluctantly agrees to help, he ends up in the middle of a deadly battle for Mia and her baby.
As the thief and the mom-to-be make a run for it, they face one obstacle after another—but nothing that really helps the characters grow or propels their story. After all, the film’s writers went out of their way to keep the story as light as possible on development. The only thing they reveal about the thief is that he’s on the way to meet a friend, so they can use the money to “retire”—and, despite being annoyed by Mia’s intrusion into his getaway, he helps her anyway. Mia has been abused, and she’s trying to get to her family in Colombia. And Temple is a bad guy who isn’t willing to let Mia get away with his son. While that may keep the focus on the action, it doesn’t make for an especially captivating film—because, with such a thin story and flat characters, there’s really very little here to care about.
To make matters worse, even the action feels repetitive and dull after a while. There’s some kind of confrontation, after which the thief narrowly escapes from Temple and his henchmen, only to be delayed in their escape. Then there’s another confrontation, after which the thief narrowly escapes from Temple and his henchmen, only to be delayed in their escape. It’s just the same sequence of events that’s repeated over and over until the right people die, bringing the story to an end.
Admittedly, most action movies tend to be light on development—because too much plot takes away from the car chases and shootouts. But Bullet Proof doesn’t even pretend to care about the other stuff. And with this cast of uninteresting characters caught up in a repetitive story, the film feels about as flat as its characters.
You can find Bullet Proof in select theaters and on demand starting on August 19, 2022.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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