Producers: Sébastien Raybaud, Callum Grant, David Mackenzie and Gillian Berrie   Director: David Mackenzie   Screenplay: Ben Hopkins   Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Worthington, Shaun Mason, Elham Ehsas, Saffron Hocking, Mohammad Afzal Ashabudin, Dragos Bucur, Honor Swinton Byrne, Alexander Arnold, Luke Mably, Iain Fletcher and Samuel Oatley Distributor: Roadside Attractions/Saban Films

Grade: C

One can understand why David Mackenzie was drawn to Ben Hopkins’ script for “Fuze”—the plot, intricate and containing plenty of surprise twists, plays to his strengths as a director.  But the film is ultimately tedious, weighed down by flat characters and inconsistent pacing.

The picture begins with an occurrence increasingly unusual, but not unheard of, in Europe: the discovery of what’s apparently a World War II bomb at a London construction site.  Authorities under the command of Chief Superintendent Zuzana Greenfield (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) quickly evacuate civilians from the affected area, and the military sends in a team of specialists led by Major Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to defuse the device.  But the operation is complicated when the bomb is found to have a timed trigger that Tranter is able to disable, but not permanently: it will eventually go off, which prolongs the evacuation while the team works to fortify the area against the expected explosion.       

It quickly becomes clear, though, that the situation is not an accident.  Karalis (Theo James) and his cohorts X (Sam Worthington), Y (Shaun Mason) and Z (Nabil Elouahabi) spring into action to rob a local bank by drilling into it from an adjoining apartment building.  Through heat signatures a drone detects their activity as coming from a flat occupied by an immigrant named Rahim (Elham Ehsas) and his querulous, wheelchair-bound father (Mohammad Afzal Ashabudin), and the police spot the thieves as they depart with the loot.  A chase follows, but the detonation of the bomb allows the crooks and their driver (Kerry Pallot) to escape

The gang make their way to a rural house where they fall out over the revelation that the take includes a cache of uncut diamonds that Karalis and his gangster partners, headed by the menacing Ludo (Dragos Bucur), intend to keep for themselves. The arrival of the mobsters creates further dissension, especially after the diamonds prove not to be all they’re cracked up to be, and Karalis finds himself threatened from all sides.  His rescue comes from an unexpected source, leading to a frantic chase and an explanation for what’s transpired, capped by a flashback to what initiated the caper.

Hopkins’ script is ingenious even if it stretches credulity, and Mackenzie knows his way around such complex material, but “Fuze” obstinately refuses to generate much tension.  The basic problem is that the characters are, overall, a colorless bunch, and since none of the performances lake wing, it’s difficult to muster concern for any of them even when they’re in danger of being shot or blown up; a sequence designed to rattle our nerves—as Tony Doogan’s ticking-time score suggests it should—just sits there, though it might be competently staged, shot by cinematographer Giles Nuttgens and edited by Matt Mayer.  Even Amanda McArthur’s production design comes across as bland.

The result is a heist movie that’s easy to endure but never gets your pulse racing.