THE MISFITS -- A Missed Opportunity of a Heist Movie

Review by Dan Skip Allen

Renny Harlin doesn't have the best reputation as a director. Other than his work in the '90s on such films as Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, and The Long Kiss Goodnight, his films haven't done well at the box office or been received well by critics. Despite that, he keeps directing films and they usually look pretty good despite the content within them. The Misfits is another example of this. 

The Misfits are a group of modern-day Robin Hoods. They steal from wealthy businessmen and operations that are using their money and wealth the wrong way. Their group consists of Nick Cannon, a fast-talking hustler and master of disguise, Mike Angelo, an explosives expert, Jamie Chung, a skilled martial artist, and Rami Jaber, the enigmatic leader of the group.

Pierce Brosnan plays a master thief who the group recruits to help them rob a rich businessman (Tim Roth) who owns prisons. One of the prisons has a vault with millions of dollars worth of gold in it. With help of his estranged daughter (Hermione Corfield), the group hopes to do the impossible and break into a very secluded prison with a lot of guards in the middle of a desert.  ​

The Misfits is a glossy fancy-looking heist film with some good performances from everybody involved. It has some problems though. Films such as these try to fool the audience with all the fancy clothes, cars, and locations. The city of Abu Dhabi in the Middle East is the setting for a part of the film. It's a beautiful place and everything surrounding it is gorgeous. This film disguises its overall story and plot with all of this glitz and glamour.

Heist films can be very entertaining at times. Some of them can be funny and some can also be pretty action-packed. This one lacks that punch. Harlin and the writers Robert Henry and Kurt Wimmer lack creativity in the film and story to give it that extra oomph that other heist films have had in the past. The characters aren't that captivating either. Combined with the basic plot beats that have been done before, The Misfits isn't that good. 

If the story beats and characters had more to them, this could have been a better film. The action and overall heist are pretty basic. The team isn't that interesting. The Ocean's films had much more interesting characters, funny one-liners, and subplots that had me invested in the films. Harmon gave it a good go, but in the end, it didn't come together.

The Misfits hits theaters on June 11 and VOD on June 15.

Rating: 2.5/5