When you watch the trailer, you think this could be either an intriguing thriller with a special twist or a complete waste of time. Turns out it's the latter, and you'll realize that you just spent about $10 (hopefully less) and 90 minutes, and got nothing more than what the free trailer tells you.
A few points:
No character depth, nothing that drives the plot: Every person is a stock, uninspired character. For example, the boy is represented as a "tech wiz," but his only contribution is to discover the drone and the security surveillance center that will factor into the plot later, then he becomes a nothing character. There's a back story about some falling out the mom had with her father, but it's never explored or even attempted to be tied into the plot (Suggestion: What if he'd sold off her horses, that's what drove them apart, then it turns out he'd hidden the treasure in her favorite hiding place in the stable?).
Boring/bored bad guys who do the most clichéd dumb things: They mill around in a cluster whenever they should spread out and easily control the premises. When they do go out individually, they do it in the most stupid way to ensure that they get knocked off one-by-one by an angry momma. It's mentioned a couple of times that they have only 90 minutes before the security system tips the police that the phone lines have been cut (why not immediately???), but they act as if there's no urgency at all. Not surprisingly, they always talk too much and too slowly when they should just kill the useless family members, grab the loot, and be on their merry way.
Typical mom suddenly becomes action hero: No explanation of how she can outwit and overpower a team of dangerous career criminals (was she in some special ops program before having babies?). It's implausible that she knows exactly what to do with the security system and other resources when she just found out that her father had installed a few contraptions. On the other hand, the bad guys, who'd actually cased the joint and are career criminals, are conveniently incompetent in order to keep the movie going.
The safe was right there!: The bad guys search the house for what seems hours, even though they supposedly had only "90 minutes before the security system tips off the police", AND one of them had dated the old man's assistant to get all kinds of free information. Finally, the teen girl, who'd just walked into the house for the first time ever and spent the ENTIRE time texting boys, simply opens a door and says, "Here it is!"
Overall feel: In the opening credits, we see that Gabrielle Union is a producer. So it seems this was her little project to be relevant, but unfortunately there was no effort put in to make anything special out of it. It's simply a mindless, forgettable flick. You can spend $25 on a ticket and snacks, then soon forget about it; watch it on video and forget about it; or if you have anything better to do, don't watch this and don't have anything to forget!
A few points:
No character depth, nothing that drives the plot: Every person is a stock, uninspired character. For example, the boy is represented as a "tech wiz," but his only contribution is to discover the drone and the security surveillance center that will factor into the plot later, then he becomes a nothing character. There's a back story about some falling out the mom had with her father, but it's never explored or even attempted to be tied into the plot (Suggestion: What if he'd sold off her horses, that's what drove them apart, then it turns out he'd hidden the treasure in her favorite hiding place in the stable?).
Boring/bored bad guys who do the most clichéd dumb things: They mill around in a cluster whenever they should spread out and easily control the premises. When they do go out individually, they do it in the most stupid way to ensure that they get knocked off one-by-one by an angry momma. It's mentioned a couple of times that they have only 90 minutes before the security system tips the police that the phone lines have been cut (why not immediately???), but they act as if there's no urgency at all. Not surprisingly, they always talk too much and too slowly when they should just kill the useless family members, grab the loot, and be on their merry way.
Typical mom suddenly becomes action hero: No explanation of how she can outwit and overpower a team of dangerous career criminals (was she in some special ops program before having babies?). It's implausible that she knows exactly what to do with the security system and other resources when she just found out that her father had installed a few contraptions. On the other hand, the bad guys, who'd actually cased the joint and are career criminals, are conveniently incompetent in order to keep the movie going.
The safe was right there!: The bad guys search the house for what seems hours, even though they supposedly had only "90 minutes before the security system tips off the police", AND one of them had dated the old man's assistant to get all kinds of free information. Finally, the teen girl, who'd just walked into the house for the first time ever and spent the ENTIRE time texting boys, simply opens a door and says, "Here it is!"
Overall feel: In the opening credits, we see that Gabrielle Union is a producer. So it seems this was her little project to be relevant, but unfortunately there was no effort put in to make anything special out of it. It's simply a mindless, forgettable flick. You can spend $25 on a ticket and snacks, then soon forget about it; watch it on video and forget about it; or if you have anything better to do, don't watch this and don't have anything to forget!