I'm very conflicted

Rating: 7/10 (31 May 2020)

POSITIVES:
1) The film does a great job of constantly building tension and maintaining its high tension levels throughout
2) When the film focuses on the central battle between Washington and Owen, it's outstanding. It should also be said that both Washington and Owen give fantastic performances
3) There are a number of great moments; whether that be a long and continuous take or our detectives trying to solve a trick question from our robbers
4) I'm very conflicted about whether this is a positive or a negative, so I'm including it in both, but the film is certainly more complex than just a run of the mill bank robbery film
NEGATIVES:
1) The classic Spike Lee discussions of racial injustice pop up a few times and don't really fit in with this genre of film
2) The female characters are all either irrelevant (Foster) or objectified by their looks (to the point where two characters are literally identified solely by their big chests)
3) Of the four bank robbers, Owen is the only one that the film even attempts to give any character development to
4) As I previously mentioned, the film is more complex than an average bank robbery film. The negative side of this is that everything outside of the negotiations between Washington and Owen feels like it's in a different film. The entire subplot with Plummer and Foster ultimately amounts to very little. This entire subplot also raises more questions than it answers. This is because it brings up things like Plummer's involvement with the Nazis (which feels very random and out of place) but then the film ends so abruptly that none of the characters' story arcs are really wrapped up properly