Marauders (2016) User Reviews

Half Decent

[athena24 · 6/10 · 14 July 2016]

The Bad Half:

Unnecessarily over convoluted plot. And although at the end I understood who did what and why, there were still too many questions left. Too many loose ends. The last 10 minutes felt weird, as if the production was running out of money, so they tried to close all knots in a hurry.

Confined spaces, and generally low number of people on set, resulting in a more low-budget, B-grade feel.

Bruce Willis. His character lacks authenticity and feels artificial in any scene he's in. It seems like Bruce Willis didn't care too much for the role.

The Good Half:

Christopher Meloni, Adrian Grenier and Johnathon Schaech. Their character felt very real, and I could rely to any of them. Their character development was very good, so I clearly understood who each person is. Moreover, it seems that their script was well- written since what their said was mostly in-place (at least as the plot went on and not looking back in retrospective).

There are also several good camera movements which made nice additions.

The action was far from exceptional but in most cases it had a tight grip. One of the action scenes was actually very tense, with a good score.

I don't know whether to recommend this movie to anyone or not, but I certainly didn't feel it was a total waste of time.

Not Oscar Material, but Good Movie.

[tony-316-915992 · 6/10 · 5 July 2016]

I was a little nervous going into this movie after reading all the reviews (largely negative), but was pleasantly surprised. OK, there was some bad acting on Bruce Willis' part but other members of the cast; Christopher Meloni, Dave Bautista et al made up for it. It was a great story with a good twist at the end. If you're a movie "sommelier" analyzing films for cinematography, acting etc... then you'll walk away with your nose in the air but if, like most people, you don't really care about the legs or the bouquet of your wine, you'll enjoy watching this. I don't normally bother writing reviews for movies but felt this movie was unfairly reviewed.

The unbelievably convoluted plot line sinks it --

[filmklassik · 4/10 · 30 June 2016]

-- despite a fine lead performance by Meloni.

Which is too bad, really, because the cinematography is quite good (digital's getting closer to celluloid every year) and a few of the supporting roles are well-acted (Grenier's in particular).

But then there's the story. Oh mother of God the story...

SPOILERS AHEAD!

It's something about a shady bank president, played by Bruce Willis, whose banks keep getting robbed in particularly brutal fashion. The trail leads the tough FBI agent in charge of the investigation (Meloni) to members of an elite special forces team and then -- wait for it - - to ANOTHER special forces team, both of which are tied in, somehow, with the kidnapping and murder of Willis's younger brother several years before.

A corrupt Ohio Senator and a missing-and-presumed dead ex-special forces op also figure in the (incomprehensible) proceedings.

I defy anyone to see this movie once and summarize the plot line. It's like the filmmakers tried to pack 4 hours worth of story into a 2- hour running time, and failed in the attempt.

All in all, a missed opportunity. I happen to love smart intense heist movies (such as HEAT, THE TOWN, THIEF, etc), but this wasn't one of them.

Good

[0U · 21 February 2020]

It would have made a great 10 episode series but too much information, characters and plot lines for one sitting. Good actors and camera work but fails to make sense in the end. I feel like it was pitched as a series but the accountants decided to make it into a movie.

Messed up

[Prismark10 · 3/10 · 9 September 2017]

Marauder starts off brightly but then becomes a muddled mess. Bruce Willis plays Hubert a corporate bank executive whose banks are being targeted in elaborate and clever armed robberies.

It seems Hubert was involved in a conspiracy that led to the death of his younger brother by the US military. The FBI led by Christopher Meloni and Dave Bautista follow a trail that leads to crooked cops, politicians and even FBI agents.

Even when the film's various strands come together it just leaves you confused. It really is a nonsense conspiracy action thriller. Willis is used sparingly as he is on his infamous $1 million a day contract and Bautista is just making a glorified cameo as well.

Not bad at all.Watchable

[smaromargari · 7/10 · 28 October 2016]

Not clear 7 ,maybe 6.8 but definitely not 5.4 Why so many bad reviews? Some 2...4 really guys? Come on ,what expectations somebody has from an action movie?The movie was good with a really nice plot. Watchable,not boring .A movie with a deeper purpose and good,interesting background story.Reviews are to help somebody to decide if it's worth seeing or not,some reviewers believe that a good review is some bad comments.Everyone had their opinion of course but 2 or 4 are for movies with no interest,awful plot and bad acting.This one wasn't any of these.I liked the idea of a higher purpose behind the script ,it had you thinking what happened?why?who? And that was interesting,there's not extremely plot just an action movie with smart scenario ,nothing unique or one of its kind.When I first saw 5.4 rate and 2...4 reviews I was like there's NO WAY to watch this.But i luckily i did and I'm glad that i did cause it was worth it.Give it a chance isn't that bad!!

Anybody else noticed it's raining the whole movie ?

[peterp-450-298716 · 4/10 · 7 March 2018]

"I don't care if you smoked last week.What I care about is honesty.If you lie, you withhold facts to get ahead, I'll cut off your balls and bury you."

If you're going to ask me what "Marauders" was about, I'll owe you the answer. Because to be honest, this was such a complicated story that I couldn't understand what was happening while watching. Let alone that I could still retell it now. The big jumble of storylines is just as inextricable as a fisherman whose fishing line has become entangled in a bush behind him. However, the beginning was promising. An action-packed and brilliantly filmed bank robbery with the masked robbers working in a concequent way using high-tech gadgets. But unfortunately this is the only thing that causes excitement. The rest is simply too boring and an incomprehensible mess.

And who to expect in a mediocre crime/action film? Yep, Bruce Willis is back. This time it's not his lamentable acting that makes him look bad, because he doesn't even get a chance to fail in that. His part is extremely limited, so we only get to see him a few times. And the boredom is easy to read from his facial expression. Although he's the central figure, the only thing he can produce is some doubtfully frowning. That's in line with previous roles he played. The only constant in his career at this moment. His picture on the film poster is bigger than his character in the film.

The only character I enjoyed was Christopher Meloni as FBI agent Montgomery. An impressive guy who tries to find out why banks of Hubert International (Bruce Willis is president of) are being robbed. But as I said before, this leads to a fairly complicated tangle of plots and subplots. Before you know it, it's about a failed military operation in Afghanistan where a soldier was killed (or not?), a group of corrupt agents, corruption at a political level and the wife of a policeman who has cancer. Enough to fill a whole season of a new police serial.

"Marauders" is again such a film you better forget about quickly. The only thing that kind of stayed with me, is the fact it rained continuously the entire film.

Thrilling crime drama, that can be too complex.

[subxerogravity · 6/10 · 3 July 2016]

It's one of those movies that Bruce Willis is "staring" in. His face is all over the poster. Too bad he's not in the movie as much. He took a paycheck for 2 weeks of work and 20mins of screen time.

I would think that having Christopher Meloni, Dave Bautista, and Adrian Grenier in the movie would be enough to attract attention, but I guess it's not enough to get the movie in the theaters.

Meloni leads the cast as an FBI agent searching for some bank robbers that seem focus on steeling money from Bruce Willis, who owns the banks they been targeting.

Bautista and Grenier are on Meloni's team as they investigate a tangled web of corruption from the bank, local law enforcement and even the military.

It's a compelling thriller that keeps moving despite all the obstacles in Meloni's way.

If you were a fan of Meloni back when he was on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit than you'll love this movie.

Especially with the great Dave Bautista as his partner. It's mostly him talking but he gets to do a little action as well.

It was a good role for Adrian Grenier. He plays a rookie fed who's given a hard time by Bautista, but slowly shows them just how bad ass he really is.

The only problem with the story is that it is too complicated. In their attempt to be smart they just end up being confusing with a story with far too many sub sub stories that get all jumbled together.

Overall, however the movie works with some standout characters played by some well known actors that keep you focus.

Definitely a good watch.

A tangled web alright

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 27 October 2018]

Saw 'Marauders' because Bruce Willis has done good films and given good performances in the past, 'Die Hard' is a genre landmark and his performance is iconic in that. The title, cast and poster also intrigued and similarly the idea for the story sounded sort of interesting, despite a lack of originality. Expectations were not high though, because Willis has been past prime for a while (several bad films and has looked tired and disengaged a lot) and has been in a lot of stinkers lately.

Despite my interest into seeing it, hopes for 'Marauders' weren't too high, with a good deal of bad things heard about it and that Willis has done similar films before, during and since this film and none of them were good and used him poorly. 'Marauders' did turn out to be a marginally better film than expected but it is still not very good despite a few decent things. Do have to agree with the flaws that have been pointed out.

'Marauders' did start off very intriguingly. It is shot with slickness and style.

The cast mostly didn't do too badly at all, better than average. Christopher Meloni and Dave Bautista give the right amount of grit and fun and Jonathan Schaech doesn't over-compensate or look bored.

Willis however phones in and looks tired in a role that is nowhere near as prominent as the advertising misleadingly indicated, something of a glorified cameo. Adrian Grenier is also quite characterless. The direction shows little engagement or finesse. The sound and music are intrusive and the characters generally aren't interesting, due to very sketchy development, with not many endearing traits.

Furthermore, the action is never exciting or tense, very routine often with silly parts and over-serious ones. The script is constantly awkward and lacks tautness, but it is the far too convoluted, as well as pedestrian and far-fetched story that suffers from trying to include too many things and underdeveloping all of them that the film suffers most from. Any twists are easily foreseeable long before they appear and there is very little tension or suspense.

Overall, tangled web sums 'Marauders' up very well. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Strong performances and great production values undercut by a confusing screenplay.

[lemon_magic · 7/10 · 31 December 2019]

So what I liked about "Marauders" boils down to Christopher Meloni's performance, backed up by a strong cast (including Dave Batista), and somewhat let down by Bruce Willis. Willis is in danger of becoming the new John Carradine (although he isn't there yet), and at points he appears to be phoning in his performance. But even at half-power, Willis is still a Pro and a Presence, so he doesn't sink the movie the way some reviewers would have you believe.

What I liked 2nd most about "Marauders" was the sense of atmosphere - the machismo, the toughness, the sense of things starting to spiral out of control. The creators seemed to be going for the feel of "The Departed", and got most of the feel right.

What I didn't care for was the overly complicated and confusing 3rd act that defused a lot of the momentum and interest that the first part of the movie generated. It didn't ruin the movie, but maybe someone should have been a bit more careful in the edit process, or cut out one or two of the plot twists. (Which I won't give away here).

To sum it up: I liked "Marauders", thought it was well worth my time, but wasn't quite as good as it could have been.

Confusing as hell.

[vikbans · 1/10 · 23 December 2020]

Stupid music. Poor acting. Poor editing. Nonsense story. Does not explain anything.

Solid film with Byzantine plot and three-dimensional characters

[ginocox-206-336968 · 8/10 · 2 July 2016]

"Marauders" is surprisingly good for a modestly budgeted action/police procedural film with Bruce Willis in a paycheck performance. The plot is satisfyingly Byzantine. The characters are three dimensional with inner demons and conflicting loyalties. Christopher Meloni delivers a solid performance in the lead. He's apparently done a lot of television work that I've never seen, but eclipsed Travolta's performance in "I Am Wrath." Solid performances also by Grenier, Schaech and Ochse (although the skullcap isn't convincing). The Cincinnati locations are effective. Action scenes are limited in scope, but done competently. Lighting is effective, but cinematography is marred by excessive reliance on jiggly-cam, although some shots use a rigid camera mount of some type. At 107 minutes, it doesn't seem long and could even benefit by extending it to two hours to give more time to develop some of the subplots. Some of the nuances of the plot and characters could have been developed more fully.

Decent acting interesting but undeveloped script missed opportunity

[abisio · 6/10 · 14 October 2016]

Before anything else; lets note that the best character and by far the best acting was Detective Mims played by Johnathon Schaech who is barely credited in the movie. Marauders starts interesting with a bank robbery and a killing that looks like an execution. From there it grows more intriguing until the first half and then becomes a big mess very poorly resolved and full of clichés.

Bruce Willis is an OK bad guy (it is not an spoiler; you can notice that on the first scene of the movie) but it is there for the check (which must be not much because he did not make any effort).

Meloni is as always good, Batista is better than expected (he has many talking parts) and Greener is sympathetic not that important. However, is Schaech who really makes a difference in this movie. His tortured character and his un-tameable personality are by far the best of the script; sadly by the end it cannot avoid the clichés either.

In brief: it is not that bad but is far from great

A Tangled Web.

[rmax304823 · 4/10 · 3 May 2017]

I hardly know how to comment on this action story about uncovering some kind of conspiracy involving the FBI, the Cincinatti Police Department, a rogue bunch of Army Rangers, and the president of a bank franchise or whatever it's called.

But let me start with the first five minutes. One by one, half dozen production companies are slowly revealed on the screen: Lionsgate presents an Aperture Production by Circumcisional Films produced by Phineas Quimby LLC of Rocinante Incorporated. Finally we see the title: "Marauders." It's a kind of generic title, like "Guns of Darkness" or "Another Dawn." "Marauders" could be a story about nosy landladies instead of bank robbers and murderers.

Okay. The credits are over. We open on a scene in an ordinary bank. A perfectly ordinary transaction is taking place. The friendly bank manager escorts a matronly lady to the door, warning her to watch out for the rain that in this movie, as in the atrociously titled "Se7en," never stops. Before the glass door, the manager looks up and from his point of view we see the most horrible Haloween mask imaginable, a kind of death's head, aiming a shotgun at us. The manager is horrified. Does the masked figure shoot the manager through the shattering glass door? Are you kidding? End of the first five minutes. I counted.

There's no point in going through the plot because it's so ill written that I couldn't follow it. Lots of shooting and gory deaths. The director is fond of having his victims spit up blood. The prologue has warned us of "graphic violence" and "brief nudity." Too bad it wasn't "brief violence" and "graphic nudity," although now, come to think of it, there was no nudity at all.

The casting is pretty good. All the actors are of TV quality. But one of them, a human gorilla with a neck the girth of a utility pole, a partially shaved skull, a two-day stubble, and garments from the Salvation Army, rather stands out from the other, properly clad, FBI agents. What a brutish figure he cuts -- and whose was the hand than slanted back this brow? In the final, action-packed half of the movie, the camera begins to show signs that the director of photography was strung out on something. It's never still. If two people are sitting and conversing, the camera still slides slightly this way and that.

I wouldn't bother watching it but others might enjoy it.

Looks good, but fails miserably...

[hottestgirlsoftumblr-791-931947 · 2 July 2016]

The first 5 minutes are the best in the whole movie. The bad guys look great and the movie has a great look and initially there's a great feeling of tension...

However, as the movie progresses, everything just seems to fall apart to the point where the last half of the movie is straight up terrible. As the ending unfolds, it becomes almost surreal how bad the script, direction, and acting all are.

Overall, Meloni's performance is slightly above average, not great, but acceptable....why you would cast him and immediately give your movie the feel of a high budget episode of Law and Order is odd to me, but whatever.

Bautista (who I loved in Guardians) falls flat, but that seems largely a fault of the script/directing.

*spoiler* Greenier (who I've liked in Entourage, Devil Wears Prada) just seems really weird throughout the movie. I guess he was trying to portray the double-sided nature of his character, but he doesn't pull it off. His acting feels really stiff and contains zero emotion. The result is that I had absolutely no feeling one way or the other about what happened to his character in the end.

Willis just sorta phones it in...not great, not bad. Just there.

Despite the average performances by the big stars, the biggest problems are the directing, supporting cast, and the editing/cinematography.

Casting is weird in that the better it is...the less you think about it because the actors don't feel like actors...they feel like they ARE the characters. However, bad casting stands out immediately, and that's what happens here. Pretty much everyone in a role directly tied to the plot just stands out due to how bad their acting or fit for the role is. Willis' assistant in the beginning seems so out of place in business setting that it's distracting. The girl playing the reporter feels like a Vinnie Chase fangirl more than anything else. The scene with Meloni and TJ is so awkward and forced...and the lines are terrible.

Pretty much everyone else feels like they came straight off the set of a bad network drama....something that isn't helped (and the director should be aware of) by casting Meloni as a FBI agent.

*spoiler* Once things move to the police station, we witness a scene so badly written, acted, directed, that you realize the movie is going to be really bad. This is compounded by the fact that the director also tried way too hard to make you care about the bad cop character (wife's cancer), his acting is so bad that it just takes you out of the movie.

Combine the bad casting, acting, directing with bad editing and it just snowballs into a force that's damn near unstoppable.

The problem is that it's not always all these factors all at once, but it's the fact that there's rarely ever a point in the movie where one of the factors isn't present (e.g. in a well acted, directed scene, the bad editing takes you out of it, in a well edited scene, the directing/acting is so bad it takes you out of it, etc)....The result is just a movie that feels really poorly put together throughout its 2 hour run time.

And finally, the director was just not able to really tell the story very well. The entire movie feels like it was made by a guy who was following an outline that analyzed the "cinematic elements" of the Usual Suspects...the flashbacks, background being told by characters within the movie, etc...

*spoiler* In the beginning we see that Willis' character is getting fed details about the crime scene in a way that immediately exposes him as being shady. This removes all suspense, intrigue, etc. that MIGHT have been built up around his character. It feels like the director was so aware how convoluted the plot was he felt the need to start spelling it out for you from the beginning, which only undermines any sort of mystery, suspense that he's trying to create....that the director doesn't understand this just doomed the movie from the get go.

*spoiler*It's a shame because the movie looks great and if the plot had probably one or two less twists, (especially if they'd dropped the dirty cop plot line) and more depth given to the story behind those parts the movie might have actually been decent despite all the problems.

Instead, the movie tries to pack in 2-3 movies worth of plot twists into 2 hours.

Cookie cutter

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 2 January 2019]

MARAUDERS is a typical digital thriller with various bored-looking actors turning up to contribute nothing performances while the brunt of the screen time is given over to less well known performers who work harder. This one mixes in the usual bank heist nonsense with a more convoluted corruption plot, and it's all rather complex. The main problem I had is that I didn't particularly care about what was taking place, due to the cookie-cutter digital look and the blue greyed out visuals. Bruce Willis has a small role alongside Dave Bautista, but overall this is the kind of film you'll forget about the day after you saw it.

very good movie...but...it could've have been great...

[bcheng93 · 6/10 · 10 August 2016]

...don't understand where all the hate is coming from for this movie. you want to watch a bad and stupid action heist movie?...then watch "heist". "heist got almost a full star higher rating here on IMDb and i couldn't even finish it...it was that bad. ...i'm a fan of good movies...i watch independents and art-house movies more then the blockbusters. pus i've watched most of the black and white classics. i'm just a fan of good movies.

that's why i can't understand the hate from the reviewers here and thats why i voted it a 7 out of 10. it's more like a 6.5 tho.

this movie could've been great tho...instead of just very good...but all in all it had me riveted to the screen for its duration. my only gripe was the movie should've been over 2 hours so the nitpickers will shut up about how convoluted and not well told it was. movies require you to use your brain sometimes...this was one of them.

all in all a very good watch if you are an action movie fan and just a enjoyable watch. another big bonus for me which others didn't like as much...the constant rain in the movie. it rained thru-out the whole movie just about...yayyyy.

solid solid action thriller revenge style flick...an atrocity that this movie gets a rating of 5.4 here on IMDb while clunkers like "heist" gets a much higher rating.

Waste of Time

[edpeace55 · 1/10 · 14 December 2020]

It's a movie, like so many recently, that Bruce Willis took money to be the main attraction but doesn't have much screen time. It features an implausible and convoluted storyline that doesn't make much sense in the real world. It gets worse as it goes along, trying to be more convoluted, creating storyline twists and turns, I suppose to make it more complex. Instead it just becomes stupider. The ending is absolutely horrible and made me sad that I watched the entire movie. Don't waste your time.

Decent action/crime thriller

[carolinelea · 7/10 · 16 March 2019]

Watched this on Netflix, not expecting much. Well, it's really pretty good! I was entertained. The guy playing Mims really showed some range, and Chris Meloni was great as always. Recommended for an evening when there's sod all on the TV and you just want to relax and watch a decent film.

Rain rain rain

[jtptzy · 3/10 · 3 December 2020]

Every scene it's raining. Is Cincinnati in a rain forest??? Very distracting Count the scenes with rain A few with wet streets Really?? Might have been an awesome movie otherwise

Good Action Flick!

[warlock_hurt · 7/10 · 19 July 2016]

A good action movie, sure the acting could have been better, but what it lacks in acting drama, it compensate with good action.

Christopher Meloni dominates the role, and Dave Bautista adds that humor to the whole film.

the story-line was intriguing, something you couldn't see from a mile away.

the action scene were well choreographed, the bank robber had a great appeal to them.

the movie had a sense of direction which is brilliant.

All in All, an action movie lover's treat!

Great cast. Horrible execution.

[ajping · 4/10 · 15 October 2018]

You know a movie is bad when you can't even remember the title when it's over. This is one of those films. There is really good acting but the story is confusing and hard to follow. It's a shame, because there are really good attempts at character-building, but for some reason I don't care about these characters at all. Perhaps the problem is a little too much character-building across too many characters. And not enough story. Anyway, the end of the movie feels like a relief that the movie is finally over.

Movie that will keep you guessing till the End.

[chiedu7 · 8/10 · 10 July 2016]

This is a crime thriller that keeps you gripped with witty sarcasm backed with intriguing twists and plots.

The dialogue between the characters alone is enough to keep you gripped. The suspense is so thick you can physically touch.

For action junkies like me, there is so much action going on that you won't be disappointed.

To me the star of the film is Christopher Meloni, his demeanor and sarcasm made the film.

If bad guys were ever close the perfection it's the bad guys in this film, they seemed to pull off the impossible in a cold calculated way.

For me this is a movie that will keep you hooked.

It might not have the media hype, but this is a film you won't regret watching.

Great shots of Cincinnnati

[kemper-91871 · 7/10 · 31 December 2017]

Not a movie buff but since I live in the Cincinnati area I wanted to see this one. Enjoyed it. Could tell it wasn't a big budget movie but with the stars that were in it I thought it played out well. It kept me interested which is hard to do.

Promising start that turns into a convoluted mess

[cbnewham · 4/10 · 18 January 2019]

The start is very good. A bank heist is carried out with precision by robbers wearing aggressive masks and using high-tech devices.

It then plunges into a boring and incoherent mess with so many overlapping story lines that the script must surely have been written by a committee. I couldn't follow what was going on for most of the movie.

The ending is stupidly bizarre.

Poor and only worth 4 stars.