The Hurricane Heist movie review: A campy good time

Despite some obvious limitations, The Hurricane Heist is actually a fun B-movie that plays up to its ridiculous premise.

Whether it’s tornadoes filled with sharks or people morphed into a human centipede, genre movies can have some of the most preposterously fun set-ups imaginable. Being properly executed or not isn’t always a guarantee, as its hard to make a truly inventive idea work as well as it should.

The latest addition to the preposterous set-up list is The Hurricane Heist, a brazen title that elegantly describes what kind of madness they are getting into. More specifically, the film follows Will, a meteorologist who is sticking around in order to help his distant older brother. The two are suddenly wrapped up in a plot to stop a team of robbers from pulling off the most daunting heist of all time: robbing a bank during a hurricane.

The age-old adage of “check your brain at the door” is frankly used too often as an excuse for bad movies, but the saying has certainly found its match with The Hurricane Heist. What the film lacks for in intelligence, however, it more than makes up for in entertainment value.

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Rob Cohen may not be the most accomplished director (most known for the original The Fast and Furious), but he can direct an action scene as well as the best in the industry. Even with some poor effects, the action scenes in this movie are well-executed. Cohen keeps these moments light, with his sure-handed camera work, making some of the most gloriously improbable ideas possible. I never thought I would see a car chase take place during a hurricane, but thanks to Cohen’s technical know-how, these moments pop.

Unlike so many genre films that are constantly winking at the camera, The Hurricane Heist keeps a straight face while unraveling its ridiculous plot. That makes for a nice change of pace, as the film has a great tongue-in-check attitude that quickly becomes infectious. Credit to the qualified cast for never breaking character while still understanding what kind of movie they’re in (the assortment of southern accents from this mostly British cast is hysterical). While not all of the film’s joys are intentional (a scene where two characters talk while peeing outside was a groaner), it’s hard to be too mad when I had a roaringly good time throughout.

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That being said, it’s easy to pick a part the film in every facets. The characters are clichéd, one-dimensional, and bland throughout, the special effects work is shoddy at best, and the story itself barely holds together. The poor character work in particular stands out, as the film is a personable character away from being more memorable.

The Hurricane Heist won’t be every audience members’ cup of tea, but its unabashedly shameless B-movie intentions are fun enough to ride out its bad patches. For a movie about a hurricane heist, it was exactly what I wanted it to be.

The Hurricane Heist is playing in theaters.