TAKERS
A stylish crime thriller best saved for home and discerning adults.
Should You Watch It?
TAKERS delivers a fast-moving crime thriller built around a sympathetic Los Angeles police detective pursuing a sophisticated band of bank robbers. Several good performances hold the movie together, and the detective gives viewers a heroic figure to root for.
But the film’s entertainment comes with a substantial cost. The robbers’ high-living lifestyle is too glamorous, while the movie includes plenty of foul language, very strong violence, a Jacuzzi scene, drug problems, and other mature material. Its unresolved ending also keeps the experience from feeling fully satisfying.
The practical answer is to wait for home, where discerning adults can control the experience and decide whether its strengths are worth its content.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESA Los Angeles detective pursues a sophisticated, gun-toting band of bank robbers after a slick robbery involving a commandeered news helicopter. As he and his troubled partner track the thieves, an old friend leaves jail with a plan to steal $25 million from two armored cars in only five days.
The robbers’ usual method is to lie low for at least a year between heists. Their new scheme brings pressure from a drug-addicted sister, a secretive Russian gang, and an old friend who cannot be trusted.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means TAKERS is fairly entertaining, but noticeably flawed. The movie’s frenetic crime action and several good performances provide momentum, while Matt Dillon gives the police detective a sympathetic center.
The craft is less consistent. The photography is poor in places, and the ending is unresolved. The biggest artistic problem is moral as well as tonal: the high-living bank robbers are presented as more glamorous than they should be.
The Worldview
TAKERS presents a strong mixed pagan worldview while making a band of bank robbers too glamorous at times. Its moral elements partly offset that problem through the sympathetic police detective tracking the criminals down. The film also includes betrayal, lying, theft, and the consequences of criminal choices, but it does not consistently treat the robbers’ lifestyle with the seriousness it deserves.
The detective gives the story a measure of moral order. He pursues justice, while the criminals pursue increasingly dangerous wealth. Yet the film’s attraction to their style and high living blurs the line between admiring skill and honoring what is wrong. Its treatment of crime is therefore mixed rather than clearly instructive.
The movie’s central question is whether crime and betrayal can finally be escaped. Scripture gives a clearer answer: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong mixed pagan worldview that makes a band of bank robbers a bit too glamorous at times, mitigated by moral elements regarding the sympathetic police detective tracking them down; about 64 obscenities (including three possible muffled “f” words), 12 strong profanities and one light profanity; very strong violence includes much gunfire, violent bank robbery, slow motion shootout between gangs in hotel, police chase robber on foot through crowds and office building, thieves shoot at police and armored car guards, people shot, implied murder of girl by jealous former boyfriend, explosions rip large hole in street, two armored cars fall into large hole in street, explosion blows up helicopter; implied sex when nude man enters Jacuzzi with two women, prostitute shown on a street and engaged couple share a long kiss; rear male nudity in one scene and man shown in tight underwear in another scene; alcohol use; smoking and woman has a drug problem and gets arrested; and, stealing, betrayal, bank robbery, armored car robbery, lying, crooks scare innocent bystanders, and cop steals money to pay for son’s dialysis while wife is unemployed but is caught.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The robbers are skilled and stylish, but their choices harm others. How can competence or confidence make wrongdoing look attractive?
Isaiah 5:20 · Romans 12:2The detective pursues criminals even while the film shows personal troubles among the officers. What does Scripture say about pursuing justice when circumstances are difficult?
Micah 6:8 · Proverbs 21:15The story includes betrayal among people who once trusted one another. What helps restore trust, and what does genuine repentance require?
Luke 17:3–4 · 2 Corinthians 7:10The film includes a desperate choice involving money and a child’s medical care. Can a good goal make a dishonest action right?
Proverbs 10:2 · Romans 3:8The Final Word
TAKERS has enough action and solid performances to entertain, but its glamorous criminals, strong content, and unresolved ending make it a poor family choice. For discerning adults who choose to watch, home is the better setting. Our answer is WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY. For cleaner alternatives, see.
