This London-based heist thriller is a master at building tension and introducing twist after twist. Aaron-Taylor Johnson leads a bomb disposal unit as Major Will Tranter – his job equally crucial and stressful. His crew is called to a London site currently under construction. But a ticking World War II device has been discovered. With the city now evacuated and electricity powered off, superintendent Zuzana (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) leads their direction with cameras providing an overview of London.
Meanwhile, Karalis (Theo James) fronts his crew of bank robbers, alongside the brutally tough, X (Sam Worthington). They use distractions and clever tactics to hide their operation as they drill a tunnel leading to a vault containing safety-deposit boxes. But for Tranter, he becomes challenged by the fumbling book-smart Martin, played excellently by Alexander Arnold who is constantly on the ball when it comes to his role as Corporal.
Tensional Twists
Director David Mackenzie perfectly captures this fast-paced action. With quick edits and stunning location shots of London, Fuze is made for viewers who desire constant tension, action, and twists. Its two leads – Aaron-Taylor Johnson and Theo James are reminiscent of Al Pacino’s and Robert De Niro’s tensional duo face-off in Michael Mann’s classic crime thriller, Heat (1995).
The constant back-and-forth between Tranter’s story and Karalis’ story is crafted extremely well to keep the viewer focused and engaged. There’s several tensional twists throughout the story and Johnson shines brightly here. Johnson holds such a likeable on-screen presence that it’s quite impossible to look away from the screen.
With both leads equally determined to pursue their goals, the story becomes much more than it seemed on the surface. Military and police discourse fills the script and it’s clear plenty of research went into making this film. Overhead shots of London grounds us in British culture. It’s great that we’re currently seeing more of these types of films from British filmmakers.
Well-Structured Story
Although the story is somewhat of an unbelievable turn of fate. The same day the army must detonate a war device is the same day a crew decides to rob a bank. But if you can suspend belief a few times throughout this film you realise the well-planned out plot and story structure.
Screenwriter Ben Hopkins is magnificent at introducing the twists just at the right time. How Tranter’s backstory is weaved into the second-act is rather great storytelling. We get to know the reasons why he’s slightly off-beat in his behaviour. Coming together with a brilliant script by Hopkins and a great direction from Mackenzie creates a thrilling fast-paced heist-thriller.
Fuze is certainly one of the better examples of the heist genre. Every second is tensional and Hopkins doesn’t waste any time in setting up the next action sequence to keep the story consistently moving. This fast-paced action thriller is gripping from start to finish.
Fuze (2025) is released on streaming platforms across the UK, including Sky Cinema from 29th May 2026.
Rating: 4 Stars
