Suspended police detective Quentin Conners (Jason Statham) is activated to help deal with a bank robber (Wesley Snipes) who has taken hostages; the bank robber escapes and starts killing his partners and others, while the cop and his new partner (Ryan Philippe) try to discover the secret behind the robbery and the whereabouts of the killer.

CRITIQUE

Chaos is an ambitious movie, blending a bank heist tale, a mystery and a lot of action sequences.  The result is sort of a mixed bag; enough works here to make one wish it worked better, while the middle of the movie drags in sections.  Still, there are some solid sequences here, and fans of Jason Statham, Ryan Philippe or Wesley Snipes might want to rent this.

The main character here is detective Connors (Jason Statham), who was suspended from the force because he was involved in a shootout with a bad guy in which a hostage was killed.  Wesley Snipes leads a crew that robs a Seattle bank, and he requests Connors there; when Snipes and his men are able to escape, Connors tries to figure out what is happening and whether he is Snipes’ next target.

The problem with this movie is that the opening bank sequence is really the strongest bit here, and after it is over the movie loses a lot of its energy.  Writer/director Tony Giglio tries to build interest in following Connors and his new partner (played by Ryan Philippe) as they follow leads and roust witnesses, but it all has something of a Law and Order feel, while Snipes drops out of the film for long stretches; the movie is better when he is onscreen.  Things are also hampered throughout by a lot of awkward, sometimes cringe-worthy dialogue.

Things do pick up at the end; though a showdown near some large containers feels a bit too derivative of Heat, there are some solid surprises, and it ends on a fairly satisfying note.  Though on a certain level this is enjoyable as semi-dumb fun, there are some real logic flaws here (such as the question of how Snipes escapes the bank without being seen), and though the three leads do some okay work, there isn’t a lot to their characters.  Still, though this isn’t all that solid, it isn’t half-bad either; there worse things to watch on a Saturday night.

THE VIDEO

Chaos is presented in 16x9 widescreen.  The picture quality is generally pretty good.

THE AUDIO

Chaos is presented in English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There’s a Commentary by writer-director Tony Giglio, who discusses how he came up with the idea, and how Statham was his first choice for the role.  It’s all rather chatty and listenable.

There’s a fairly standard 12-minute Featurette that is heavy on clips from the movie, while the only people who show up to talk are Giglio and Snipes.

FINAL THOUGHT

Though this isn’t great, there’s enough here to make this work okay as a rental.