FUZE : Tuesday 21st April 2026.

I saw the M Rated 'FUZE' at my local independent movie theatre this week, and this British crime thriller heist film is Co-Produced and Directed by David Mackenzie whose previous feature film Directorial output includes 'Young Adam' in 2003, 'Hallam Foe' in 2007, 'Perfect Sense' in 2011, 'Hell or High Water' in 2016, 'Outlaw King' in 2018 and 'Relay' in 2024. The film Premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September last year at the Gala Presentations section, was released in the UK earlier this month, and has generated mixed or average critical reviews.

Here, set in modern day London, the film opens on a building site in Paddington where an excavation reveals what appears to be an unexploded WWII bomb. The site foreman calls the local Police who spring into action and alert the Army bomb disposal unit. The Police, under the command of Chief Superintendent Zuzana Greenfield (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), cordon off an area the size of several city blocks, and order the immediate evacuation of all civilians, including Rahim (Elham Ehsas) and his parents, to Hyde Park. Meanwhile, Greenfield has contacted Major Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) a seasoned bomb disposal expert to lead the investigation into the nature of said device and its defusing. 

Upon arrival at the Paddington site, Tranter and his team set the ground rules for handling the alleged bomb, which sits buried in mud and partially submerged in waste water. The operation is hampered when Tranter discovers a timed trigger, and that it is ticking. One of the soldiers uses a magnetic device to temporarily disable the timer, while the rest attempt to build a wall to contain and reduce the blast zone. Tranter relays back to his team and Greenfield that the bomb could off anytime between now and the next 48 hours. 

Amidst the chaos, and the city falling silent, the streets empty and with electricity supplies cut off Karalis (Theo James), X (Sam Worthington), Hardeep (Naveed Khan), Y (Shaun Mason) and Z (Nabil Elouahabi) break into a bank in Edgware Road, that is located directly adjacent to Rahim's apartment block. They gain access through the basement, and using a large industrial drilling machine, bore through the two feet thick concrete wall and then blow torch their way in through the steel wall into the vault. Having gained access they set about looting safety deposit boxes and steal money, jewellery, and a cache of diamonds. Their heat signature is spotted from Rahim's apartment by a Police drone, suspending the bomb disposal operation while Policemen search the cordoned area. Karalis is spotted keeping a watchful eye on proceedings at street level, and the Police engage in a chase with the thieves. Meanwhile, the bomb malfunctions, reactivating the timer and eventually resulting in the device detonating before the wall can be completed. The explosion leaves a big crater in the ground, a shock wave that can be felt several blocks away and a huge plume of grey smoke and ash rising up from the scene of the blast. Fortunately, no lives are lost. 

The thieves are able to successfully evade the Police - first on foot through the sewers of central London and then they escape in a van to a safehouse in the countryside. There, Karalis reveals uncut diamonds among the loot, then double-crosses them by calling in a team of armed gangsters he works for, who come in with shotguns blasting away, and take out Y with a blast to his shoulder. They then cable tie the thieves up and lock them in a shed. Karalis, who is in cahoots with his uncle, who turns the tables on his nephew by stating that he now wants a 50% cut of the share from the sale of the diamonds when they had originally agreed a 20% cut. Karalis is none too pleased with this development and when he tries to explain the work involved in fencing off uncut diamonds, and their true value only when they are cut, the uncle slams down a wrench on the table smashing the diamond into dust. Upon discovering the diamonds to be fake, the gangsters break his hand with the wrench, lock him in the boot of their car and drive off with him, leaving the other thieves locked in the shed. Y succumbs to his shotgun wound and dies. X breaks free from his cable tied wrists and frees the others. Using the van to break out of the shed door, X grabs his tablet from two getaway cars and says that he placed tracking devices on each of them, because he felt none of his accomplices could be trusted. and Karalis is able to use his phone to broadcast his location. With X, Hardeep and Z tracking him, they eventually catch up, kill the gunmen, and attempt to suffocate Karalis, but Tranter arrives and shoots X dead, and wounds Hardeep and Z, so allowing Karalis to escape. With Hardeep and Z left for dead, they both retrieve the stash of cash and jewellery from the gunmen's car, and are last seen grinning from ear to ear. 

By the time the Police have figured out Tranter, Karalis and Rahim's involvement in the heist and their connection, the three have fled the UK each on separate flights. Reuniting in Istanbul, it is revealed that Tranter was working with Karalis to steal the diamonds; when Karalis was discovered, Tranter sabotaged his own home made WWII looking bomb, triggering the explosion to buy them time to escape the Police; and Rahim, a long term friend of Tranter, ensured the switch of the real diamonds for the fake ones and their concealment and ultimate retrieval was carried out according to plan. After arranging for the diamonds to be cut and sold in Istanbul to diamond traders, and dividing the US$90M proceeds equally between them, the three part ways.

A closing sequence tells us that Tranter, Karalis and Rahim first met ten years earlier in Afghanistan, when Karalis was double-crossed by his employer, who kidnapped him, only for their convoy to be caught up in an IED blast. Tranter and Rahim who happened to be in the locale at the time provided cover fire against the insurgents, as Karalis was able to disarm a land mine that Tranter had inadvertently stepped on. However, whilst Karalis cut the wire leading to the land mine, he neglected to disengage the grenade at the mine's control box causing a chain reaction of explosions from other buried IED's sending the three of them flying albeit unharmed. 

'Fuze' hardly reinvents the bank heist film genre that goes adrift before the final payoff and the villains walk away to spend their millions on ill gotten gains, but nonetheless, it is an enjoyable, entertaining and engaging robbery romp ramping up the tension, the plot twists and turns and the double crosses into a reasonably respectable 97 minute run time. The character development is somewhat lacking (until that final sequence) and the at times ho-hum dialogue, but the cinematography, editing, Mackenzie's deft Directorial hand and a more than competent cast all add up to an acceptable thrill ride. 

'Fuze' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-