Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: George Miller
Writer: Mo Buck
Cast: Jon Bernthal, Chadwick Boseman, Eric Bana, Milla Jovovich, Donnie Yen, Eric Roberts, Dominic Purcell, Stellan Skarsgard, Michael Jai White
Plot : Bremen, Germany - July 5th
A armored truck is parked in front of a donut shop. A van parks in the lot, right next to it. The window goes down and a hand throws something on the truck. The van leaves and the doors of the truck explode, blowing the windows of the donut shop. Another van comes in a group of masked thugs come out. They go inside, threatening people with their guns. They steal the jewelry inside the truck and leave. They have time to leave before the police and the news helicopter arrives.
At the Interpol headquarters, Agents Brady (Stellan Skarsgard) and Rolston (Eric Roberts) watch the news feed with disbelief. The gang struck again and they didn’t even saw it coming. It’s the fifth time in a month that some high value items were robbed by an unknown, organized gang. Both of them feel too old to chase them, so they asked for back up and it’s Agent Omega (Michael Jai White) who serves as backup. They will brief him in the next couple of days regarding this international chase.
The two vans park in a warehouse and everyone (Jon Bernthal, Chadwick Boseman, Donnie Yen, Eric Bana, Dominic Purcell, Milla Jovovich) removes their masks. They start to unpack the van of jewelry and they celebrate yet again. Their little business has been going well lately and they don’t seem to be slowing down.
Lyon, France – August 1st
Agents Brady and Rolston are interviewing a man, who’s hidden behind a mirror and whose voice is discorded. They ask him to describe the gang, who they are, where they come from. Then he starts. Brad “Ace” Jones (Jon Bernthal). Brady asks why they call him Ace and it’s because he loves to play cards and that’s all. Then, it’s Keshawn “Snake” Cannon (Chadwick Boseman), called Snake because he can bite you in the ass at any time when you’re not looking. Then, it’s Han “Layla” Li (Donnie Yen). They actually don’t know why they call him Layla, other than he always plays the song when he listens to music, so they decided to call him that. We also have Taylor “Eeyore” Downs (Eric Bana). It’s based on the children’s character. Downs is always grumpy and too lazy to do anything. They literally drag his ass wherever they go, but he’s still one of the most talented man in the group. Then, there’s Mikey “Monster” Martins (Dominic Purcell). This one needs no explanation, he’s built like a monster and he also acts like one. Finally, there’s, no there was Joanna “Red” Vasilek (Milla Jovovich), called Red because of her hair, but they killed her. Brady apologizes about that. Then, Agent Omega arrives and asks who they are questioning and why is he all hidden like that and it’s because they can’t let him see the suspect, for whatever reasons. The suspect says that he presented them the entirety of B.R.I.G.A.N.D.S. and he asks if he can go. Agent Rolston says that will be all for now, but Brady asks him to tell him everything about what went down in Riga.
Bremen, Germany – July 28th
Agent Rolston leaves his safehouse in Bremen, where the robbers were last saw and he calls his colleague to say that he hasn’t heard anything about a jewelry sale in the last ten days and he’s waiting for extradition, he’s losing his time over there. Brady says that he should stay there until they show up again, but he insists on leaving, he just has a feeling that they aren’t in Bremen anymore and he is right. The whole crew is at the Bremen Airport and getting on a plane for Riga, Latvia. They have a clear conscience, their face isn’t on every news outlet out there and they can still travel without risking being recognized, as nobody has ever saw their faces. Plus, they have a couple of millions more in their offshore account in the Caimans, so everything is going fine for B.R.I.G.A.N.D.S. They board their plane, just as Agent Rolston officially has the authorization to leave. He receives a text with two simple words, Riga, Latvia. He then asks for a plane for Riga, Latvia.
Riga, Latvia – July 29th
Every time the crew worked together in the past, they always had success because they followed two simple rules; do this quick and no personal stuff and everyone intends to stick to the rules this time too. Besides their nicknames and their real names (if they’re real), they basically know nothing about each other, but every now and then, they will receive a call from Ace and that’s when they know they need to meet up somewhere, instructions usually follow in the next days, but this time, they stuck together, they don’t know why, but they just did. Everyone is now in Riga and it’s D-1 day. Their target, a bank right in the heart of the city. Fear isn’t usually a factor when B.R.I.G.A.N.D.S. operates, but the majority of the crew doubts the whole operation. Snake got the surveillance intel, just like he always does and he worked on an escape plan with Ace, who is briefing the team about their mission. On his end, Agent Rolston opens an email from his boss, pressuring him to find the gang sooner or later, his job is on the line. He calls Agent Omega and urges him to come to Riya, immediately.
Riga, Latvia – July 30th
D-Day. Ace is driving the first van, with Layla, Red and Snake. Eeyore drives the second with Monster in the passenger seat. The first van parks in the alley, the second right in front. Eeyore goes inside with a sports bag, he’s wearing a suit. Monster follows him to the desk and acts as his personal bodyguard. Eeyore asks to remove content from his deposit box and a clerk escorts them to the back and at that point Eeyore asks to use the bathroom. While he’s gone, Monster knocks down the employee and grabs the sports bag. In the first van, Snake, who hacked into the bank’s security system shuts down the cameras. Monster grabs his Frankenstein mask and he throws the Pooh Bear one to Eeyore. They let the rest of the crew in from the service door. They each put their masks on and they start to rob the place. Ace and Red go up front and threaten the clerks. Snake finds his way to the surveillance room as Monster works on crowd control. Layla is drilling the safe as Eeyore watches them work, he did his part. Everything is going well up to that point, but then, everything changed in an instant.
A sniper, from across the street, shoots and kills Monster, just like that. He falls down on the side, a bullet in his brain, brain remains on the floor amongst the crowd, who are screaming at the top of their lungs. No alarms were turned on, police weren’t contacted. Agent Omega, smoke still coming out of his sniper, texts Rolston to tell him that he got one. Rolston replies to not let anyone get away, they need at least one of them, to talk. Inside the bank, things aren’t going as smoothly as before. Red leaves Ace and now she’s the one trying to calm down the crowd. Eeyore gets up from his chair and he tries to warn her not to stand near the windows, but it’s too late. Down goes Red. She was shot in the leg and she screams in pain. Eeyore drags her to safety while Ace screams at Layla to hurry up. Police are now on the scene, circling the whole building. Ace decides to let the employees alone, alarm or no alarm, there’s no difference anymore. He starts to empty the deposit boxes while hoping to find something valuable. He stuffs everything he can find in the sports bag and as the police throws smoke grenades in the lobby, the whole crew goes in the garage. Eeyore and Layla are carrying Red and they all get in an armored truck parked in the garage and they realise it is loaded with money. Layla uses his explosives on the garage door and the group is now on the street. They are chased by a helicopter. Ace looks at his phone and his contact, Falcon, texted him to meet them at a specific address if they want to get out of Riga alive.
They are chased by helicopters, some police ones and some from the media, filming their every move. On the ground, it’s no easy task either. They’re chased by tons of armed force vehicles. Eeyore is still tending to Red’s injury, while Layla and Ace are busy gunning down the incoming cop cars. Snake drives the best he can around the city to the address Ace received from his mysterious Falcon contact that they never met. He drives down a road and they jump over a small river, which causes the cars to lost track of the suspects. Snake drives the van in small alleys and he zigzags in the city, trying to lose the choppers. He comes back on a public road, but there’s a police barrage right in front of them. They shoot the policemen, but there’s nothing they can do. Their tires explode and the truck drifts and lands on the side. The police start to circle the car, but the gang is able to escape by jumping down on a rooftop below them. The police shoot them, but Ace and Layla are able to cover their run. Snake realises that they are near their meeting point. They sprint on rooftops, jumping over alleys, but Eeyore is trailing a little, slowed down by Red, who he’s carrying on his shoulders. Eeyore is nearly shot by a cop, but he misfires. Ace turns back and he takes Red and drops her down the building. Eeyore protests but Ace says it’s not personal, she was just a drag since she got shot. They jump down a rooftop and they go down the sewers with their bag of stolen goods and another one full of money.
Agent Brady can’t believe that they got away again, but at least he’s happy to learn that they were able to capture Joanna Vasilek. Unfortunately, he was unable to interrogate her before she passed away, as she didn’t survive her fall down the rooftop. Brady debriefs Agent Omega who successfully shot Mikey “Monster” Martins, an American, with no background history, except a DUI when he was younger. Brady tries to reach Rolston who was supposed to be in Riga, but his phone is disconnected.
Back in the sewers, the gang has a small conflict. Eeyore is in a fight with Ace over what happened with Red. Ace doesn’t understand why he cares all that much when he didn’t even know our real name, she was almost a stranger to them and it was either her, or the whole gang and Ace went with the gang, the smart choice. Eeyore then reveals that Red was his girlfriend, which shocks the crew. Eeyore says that they were able to hide it, since nobody ever talks about personal stuff and anyway that it wasn’t their problem. He spits in Ace’s face which reignites the fight between the two. Layla breaks up the fight, as Snake laughs at them. Layla tells Ace that he made the right choice as he didn’t know the circumstances at the time and Eeyore should get over it too. Snake tells them that they should hurry up, since police may still be on their tail. They get out of the sewers without their masks and they enter the apartment building where the meeting point is supposed to happen.
Ace is the first one to knock on the door of Apartment G-29, a corner one with a small balcony. When they enter, they see don’t see a living person like they were expecting, but a note stuck on the TV which says that they will receive new instructions shortly, things were too tense out there to meet now. Ace says it’s all bullshit and says he’ll try to contact him again. Eeyore is pissed off that they did all this for nothing and Snake is pissed at getting bailed on like that. Layla keeps his calm, as always. Eeyore is punching at the wall out of anger when Ace tells him to calm down. The gang is all silent and they retreat on the balcony. Snake, with his chill attitude says that there’s nothing wrong, but they can clearly hear someone else talk in the adjacent room. The police breaks the door down and Ace, Layla and Eeyore jump down the balcony, Snake is captured by the authorities, as Agent Rolston looks on from a hidden camera, from his safehouse. Rolston looks at Snake and at a picture of Agent Omega, he can’t believe it, it’s his brother.
Lyon, France – August 1st
So this is what happened, says the disturbed voice. Omega says that he had enough for the day and leaves. As soon as he’s out, Rolston tells Brady the news, Keshawn “Snake” Cannon is Omega’s brother, so this is why nobody is allowed to see his face, especially not Omega. Snake asks them what will happen with him. They answer that they don’t know yet. They ask him one more time if he knows the group’s next heist, but he doesn’t. He says that it was usually someone codenamed Falcon who texted them instructions and dropped off packages like intel and stuff at specific places. Brady says he’ll do what he has to do to try to find out about this Falcon guy, while Rolston says he’ll have a day. When Rolston gets back to his small apartment, he texts Ace for one final heist. All he needs to do is to get to Amsterdam and he will text him what to do. It’s the final one, after this, he’s out. Ace answers back asking what to do with the money and Rolston says to dump it in a river.
Amsterdam, Netherlands – August 3rd
Agent Rolston receives a call from Brady, they still weren’t able to get anything from “Snake”, he just won’t talk and for Rolston, it’s better this way. He texts Ace telling him to pick up a package in the Red Light District, but Ace refuses, he doesn’t want to. He wants to meet him face to face this time. He quickly thinks about it and he doesn’t see why he shouldn’t do it. He texts him the address and waits for his arrival. Ace finishes his drink and leaves his cellphone on the table. He was with Eeyore and Layla. They stuck together again on Layla’s demand, as they needed to get over their differences in order to successfully achieve their next mission, something they were able to do. Ace leaves for the bathroom and but forgets his cellphone on the table. Layla asks Eeyore for a refill and after some arguing, he finally gets up to go to the bar. Layla unlocks Ace’s cellphone and notes the address of the meeting. When Ace tells everyone he’s leaving for the night, Layla follows him discretely.
When Ace arrives, Rolston sits backwards on his chair. Ace aggressively spins the chair and screams in Rolston’s face. He knows he screwed them up last time and he should have helped them more when everything when downhill. He also adds that Falcon is even uglier than he imagined. He wants to know what he needs to do and how, so there won’t be any problems this time around. Rolston accepts, but he tells Ace to calm down. He briefs him about their next mission, intercepting a truck in a convoy, a truck full of stolen diamonds. Rolston has a contact who will buy them at a high price. Before Ace leaves, Rolston congratulates him for killing Red in the last mission. Their Cayman Island was always going to be shared amongst the surviving members of B.R.I.G.A.N.D.S. and since there’s only four of them now, then their share will be bigger. Ace adds that all he cares about is the money and he leaves.
When Ace leaves, Layla discretely enters the room and confronts Rolston. He knows that he screwed them big time last time out, because all Rolston cares about is the money. Layla reminds him that he knows who he is and he could end him in an instant. Rolston says he could end Layla too. Layla. Layla. Kind of ironic to have a nickname that reminds you of your daughter you tried to kill, right? I bet it must be hard every time you hear it, right? Rolston says that he knows where the young Layla is and he can make sure that she never breathes again if he makes a move on him. He reminds him that he watches their every move and he will make sure that they aren’t caught either. Layla says it’s a cheap for taking his quadriplegic daughter as a bait. Rolston answers that he shouldn’t have hit her when she was younger. Angry, Layla leaves.
Amsterdam, Rotterdam – August 5th
Once again, the gang, or what remains of it, is ready to strike, with Rolston watching from his safehouse. As promised, he’ll be more active in the heist. He texts Eeyore for the first time ever, telling him to kill Ace when all of this is over, he shouldn’t have killed Red. He only cares about the money, he’s selfish and shouldn’t be trusted. He texts a similar message to Ace, telling him to watch out for Eeyore, he feels like something’s wrong and that he could betray him anytime, remember what he did to Red, his girlfriend. He texts Layla something else, to be careful, because one misstep and the real Layla is gone. He texts Ace again, telling him to dispose of Layla once everything’s over. It will mean more money for the two of them.
Every single one of them received their directions for the mission and things are awkward in the van, nobody speaks and they mind their own business. Everybody thinks the others are just focused on the job. Ace receives a text from Falcon, the mission is a go. They drive slowly in the streets of Amsterdam and they see the convoy. They all put on their masks and Ace accelerates. They turn on a parallel street and he passes the convoy. He stops in front of it and the crew gets out. They start to gun the down the guards in front of the convoy and the armored truck stops. They face no resistance when hijacking the truck and as expected, police is rapidly on the scene.
Layla and Eeyore are easily able to dispose of them and Layla has a little surprise for the roadblock up ahead when he shoots at it with his bazooka. The crew rapidly distances the police and they park in an isolated warehouse where they were supposed to drop off the truck. They all go separately in the warehouse and they all seem to remember the text messages they received. Eeyore is the first one to make a move he silently grabs his pistol and moves towards Ace who heard him. Ace grabs his pocket knife and throws it in Eeyore’s arm who screams in pain and drops his gun. Ace jumps on him and trying to keep him quiet, strangling him. Ace whispers in his ear that he was instructed to kill him right from the start, it was the plan all along. Eeyore drops, dead, as Ace gets up. Layla, who heard the commotion watched them from the second floor. He signals his presence to Ace and says that he should drop his gun now. Ace tries to shoot him but he misses. The two men take cover and shout at each other. They tell each other their reasons to come out of here alive.
Rolston of course has cameras installed in the warehouse. He carefully looks at Ace and Layla’s surroundings and he notices weak spots around both of them while they are trying to shoot at each other. He texts Ace, telling him to shoot at the pipes behind Layla. He executes it and a pipe explodes behind Layla, killing him. Rolston smiles and texts him to leave. When Ace gets out, he drops down on his knees as police surrounded the place. He feints giving himself up and starts to shoot at them. A sniper finally kills him as Rolston smiles with satisfaction. He sends his letter of resignation to Brady and he leaves the city.
George Town – Cayman Islands – September 11th
About a month later, Rolston looks at his bank account in the Caymans, about $100M in bank. He sips on his drink while sitting on a beach, reading a newspaper about the death of a B.R.I.G.A.N.D.S. member in detention and the authorities are still looking for the unknown member behind it all. He throws the newspaper in the ocean and smiles while lighting up a cigar.
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