‘Fuze’ movie review: Sam Worthington, Theo James excel in twisty thriller

Who does not love a good heist movie? The planning, the gathering of the team, the deceit and betrayals and the meticulously laid plans falling to the “best-laid plans” syndrome all immediately take you back to James Hadley Chase novels borrowed from the neighbourhood circulating library during lazy, hazy summer vacations.

Fuze opens with the discovery of an unexploded WWII bomb in London, causing the police, led by Chief Superintendent Zuzana (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), to evacuate the site. The army is called in, and Major Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is tasked with defusing the bomb.

Elsewhere, a robbery is underway with Karalis (Theo James), X (Sam Worthington), Y (Shaun Mason), and Z (Nabil Elouahabi) drilling a massive hole into the wall of a bank. Revelations and doubts come thick and fast.

Why does Tranter shut down Corporal Martin (Alexander Arnold)? Why are the bank robbers not surprised at the empty streets? Is Karalis playing a double game? Who is the sniper who comes to the rescue? What, if any, is Rahim’s (Elham Ehsas) part in the unfolding events? Rahim, who lives in a flat from where the bank robbers drilled the hole, seems unconnected but is he?

As the action unfolds in real time, we are shown pieces of the picture, and like Zuzana the questions that must be running in her head are running in ours too.

Written by Ben Hopkins, Fuze plays scrupulously fair with us, presenting us with the same clues and insights as Zuzana and we are equally thrilled as we uncover the many layers of the conspiracy, right back to its beginning.

Cinematographer Giles Nuttgens has created a lived-in London with cool blues and browns for the city and crisp greens for the countryside while editor Matt Mayer deserves a medal for keeping the many-stranded plot straight while telling David Mackenzie’s pulpy, layered story.

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Cast-wise, Taylor-Johnson embodies Tranter whose opacity could be because of PTSD or something else, while James is all charm and jokes till he is not. Mbatha-Raw radiates competence and intelligence from every cuff and knife-edge crease while Worthington might or might not fall prey to the casting-choice rule (you know the one where a big-name star naturally has to be the villain).

Fuze moves like greased lightning on its genre tracks, offering thrills and chills at every unexpected turn, and has the distinction of being even more fun once it is over, when you find yourself replaying the story to pin down the exact moment things first began to feel rotten.

Fuze is currently running in theatres