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Empire State (2013)

thereviewers
Jan 23, 2015
2 min read

Empire State is based on a true story and focuses on Chris Potamitis (Liam Hemsworth), who after failing to get into the Police Academy settles for a job as a Security Guard. After mentioning the lax security at his job to his best friend, Chris is soon drawn into an elaborate scheme to steal money from his employer.

Overall Review Score

1.5 out of 10

Review

Empire State is a 94-minute film based on the true story of the largest cash hesit in U.S. History. However, while Empire State is a crime drama film that has a good grounding in reality and a subtle sub-plot about how rejection can change a person. It struggles from the opening credits to grab the audience’s attention. - Especially, as the cast seem constrained, the NYPD Detective James Ransone (Dwayne Johnson) seems to have split personality disorder - going from overtly nice to overtly aggressive in a heartbeat, the local crime bosses seem unintelligent and causes the audience to question why anyone would be afraid of them and the ending leaves much to be desired. Overall, it is clear in the first five minutes of this why it skipped a cinema release and went straight to DVD and Blu-Ray. This film might be the story of the largest cash heist in U.S History but it’s a film that the audience will forget as soon as the credits roll...if not before.

Reviewer 1's score & comments:

Score: 1 out of 10

Comments:

Unfortunately Empire State did not live up to my expectations - its puzzling start, bad acting, deplorable storyline and lack of character development made me think that the only heist the Director had pulled off to perfection was stealing my money for this awful film. Definitely a film to miss if you like the Bank Heist Premise, save time and money and watch a decent film like the Italian Job instead.

Reviewer 2's score & comments:

Score: 2 out of 10

Comments:

Empire State could have been a good film, conceptually the premise of a good person turned bad after rejection could have worked. However, the Director and actors clearly had other ideas. Empire State, while based on a true story, failed to get off the ground...it was jittery, puzzling, and at times just plain annoying. This film was less Empire State more Empire Sunk.