Marauders

Director: Steven C. Miller

Cast: Christopher Meloni, Bruce Willis, Dave Bautista, Adrian Grenier, Lydia Hull, Tyler Jon Olson, Christopher Rob Bowen, Ryan O’Nan, Jonathon Schaech, David Gordon

Producers Randall Emmett and George Furla are known for making a whole stack of action films normally set in random US cities most notably 16 Blocks and Broken City. Their latest venture is Marauders directed by Steven C. Miller focusing on a series of well-orchestrated and brutal bank robberies plaguing Cincinnati, Ohio.

Marauders cast includes Christopher Meloni as a FBI agent Montgomery, Dave Bautista (Spectre, Guardians of the Galaxy) as Stockwell and hot shot investigator Wells played by Adrian Grenier (Entourage). There are also appearances by Ryan O’Nan (Eat, Pray, Love) and uncredited role by Jonathon Schaech (Legend of Hercules) as Mimms, a Cincinnati cop who by his interference in the case becomes implicated in it.

A grizzled looking Bruce Willis (Pulp Fiction, Die Hard) plays the CEO of a large Midwestern bank Hubert, whose main monologue at the beginning of the film focuses on a spider climbing a rain drenched skyscraper to get to the top.

Marauders is not a great film, purely because the plot is so convoluted and confusing that at times one doesn’t know who the real enemies are. The murky nature of the intrigue is perhaps the most thrilling part of the film, although what is fascinating about Marauders is its study of declining masculinity.

All four major characters are suffering, particularly Montgomery for brooding over the brutal death of his wife leaving him alone to contemplate glasses of unfinished red wine in the city’s bars or Mimms, who is dealing with his dying wife suffering from pancreatic cancer. All the men are devoid of a feminine influence in their lives to tame their violent tendencies which is instinctive and primal.

Ultimately, that’s where Marauders viewership lies: adult males who love watching violence on screen.

The plot centres on a corrupt Bank CEO, a shady Ohio senator played by David Gordon, and a botched kidnapping in Costa Rica which went south when Hubert’s much younger brother is supposedly killed by a group of rogue State rangers, just before he is supposed to inherit a substantial share of Hubert National Bank.

Despite the murkiness of the plot, the action is good and the acting is saved by a cocky performance by Christopher Meloni who outshines Bruce Willis. Meloni who was so good in White Bird in a Blizzard actually holds the film together while Adrian Grenier does not have much to work with, only really embracing his character towards the end as the film’s denouement is revealed.

Marauders like many of Emmett/Furla films are not superb, but watchable and cater for a specific sub-genre of action films, which appeal to the thirty to forty plus age group of male cinema-goers.

The female characters in Marauders are virtually non-existent, making this a real macho action film about thieves in Cincinnati whose real intention is to seek revenge on the man who set them up five years ago in Central America.

Recommended viewing for those that enjoyed End of Watch, Lone Survivor and 2 Guns.

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