Bullet Points: The Vault (2021)
Heist movies are an interesting sub genre under the greater action movie umbrella. Most action movies have clearly defined good guys and bad guys. But heist movies blur the line between good and evil, as the people doing the heisting are often the ones the audience is rooting for despite knowing what they are doing is criminal.
In this edition of Bullet Points, I’m going to be taking a look at a new entry into the heist sub genre, 2021’s The Vault…
- International Treasure: As the movie opens, Walter Moreland (Liam Cunningham, Game of Thrones) and his team have salvaged the lost treasure of Sir Francis Drake. There is little time to celebrate however as the Spanish authorities sweep in and repossess the treasure that Walter has spent years of his life trying to obtain. Walter Moreland fights for his rights to the treasure in a court of law, but it is to no avail… the judge rules that the treasure belongs to the Spanish Crown and rules that the treasure should be immediately transported to the most secure location in the world, the vault inside the Bank of Spain.
- Boy Genius: Meanwhile at the University of Cambridge we meet Thom Laybrick (Freddie Highmore, Bates Motel), an engineering wizard who finds himself being wooed by numerous multinational corporations offering him huge salaries to join their ranks. It is fairly obvious that Thom is not interested in being a part of the corporate world… it becomes completely obvious later that evening when Thom has dinner with his father, who is not pleased that his son is not taking advantage of all the amazing opportunities being presented to him. And that’s about the time Thom gets a text from an unknown number asking if he’d be interested in the opportunity of a lifetime.
- When Thom Met Lorraine: The sender of the unknown text turned out to be a young woman named Lorraine (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), after putting Thom through some paces, Lorraine takes Thom to see a man who became a father figure to her after her birth parents died… Walter Moreland. Walter tells Thom about the lost treasure of Sir Francis Drake and his side of the story and more importantly that he wants to reclaim the treasure, but in order to break into the engineering marvel that is the Bank of Spain, he is going to need Thom’s genius mind. The lure of being able to do the impossible is enough for Thom to jump on board and fly to Spain the very next day.
- The Crew: Lorraine meets Thom at the airport and takes him to meet the rest of Walter’s crew… they include Simon (Luis Tosar), he’s the guy who can procure whatever the team needs, James (Sam Riley)… Walter’s longtime right hand man and an expert diver, who is not happy that Walter is bringing in Thom… and last but not least Klaus (Axel Stein), the computer whiz of the crew and a guy who reminded me of a young William Hootkins. To his credit Thom jumps into this new world with both feet, volunteering to join Simon and pose as part of the cleaning crew in Stage 1 of Walter’s grand plan… which is the obligatory casing the joint phase. We learn that Thom can adapt and work under pressure, some skills that will come in handy later during the actual heist.
- The Challenges: As you might expect despite having a well concocted plan, things do not go smoothly for Walter, Thom and the rest of the crew… which creates the tension that a good heist film needs to keep the audience watching. One of the biggest challenges the team faces is the Bank of Spain’s head of security, Gustavo (Jose Coronado)… who honestly deserves the Bank’s Employee of the Month honor, because while his co-workers and his boss are caught up with football fever, Gustavo is trying to do his damn job.
2021’s The Vault continued the heist movie tradition and much of the film stuck to the proven formula of its predecessors, but The Vault also managed to incorporate some unique elements.
The greatest example of a unique element is The Vault’s uses of the finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup between Spain and the Netherlands as the backdrop for the big heist. Tying in a real life event like the FIFA World Cup helped give The Vault something to help it stand out and will probably have people questioning if The Vault was based on a true story.
For those of you who Googled, “Is The Vault based on a true story?” I welcome you to Bulletproof Action and you and everyone else are welcome to read these Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: The original title for The Vault was Way Down.
- Familiar Face: Famke Janssen of Taken and GoldenEye fame plays Margaret an associate of Walter who seemingly has a throw away part as the movie begins, but ends up affecting the outcome before it is all said and done.
- Montage Alert: A complex heist requires planning and what better way to plan than montage style??
- Romantic Sub Plot: There are some sparks between Thom and Lorraine, but The Vault spares us from a full blown romance between the two. This makes sense considering there is a very small window of time to pull of the heist and having Thom and Lorraine stealing away to explore and express their feelings for one another would be counterproductive.
