This review contains spoilers. 

I tuned into the new action-thriller “Fuze” with practically zero idea of its premise and almost entirely for its acclaimed and equally charming leads: Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Theo James. I’m not ashamed to admit it. 

That said, I was pleasantly surprised by how invested I became in the plot.

The theater was filled with who I can assume were 15 or so fathers and a few elderly women (my future, surely). In their company, I watched a bank heist happen simultaneously with a World War II bomb defusal.

On paper, the race-against-the-clock, red-wire blue-wire, brooding and mysterious leads all sound like premises done countless times before. 

And yes, it has been. Think “The Hurt Locker” or “Hell or High Water,” another David Mackenzie film. Admittedly, few movies combine the two.

Still, the film distinguishes itself from the familiar genres with its constant twists and shifting perspectives.

Although the two separate, equally tense incidents already make for a riveting movie, it quickly becomes apparent that things are amiss, and that something is going on beneath the surface.

The general lack of dialogue in the movie aids this uncertain feeling, as the audience is forced to guess alliances and morals mainly through facial expressions and, frankly, vibes. I always root for Theo James, but this movie certainly put my allegiance to the test.

Major Will Tranter, played by Taylor-Johnson, appears to be your typical charismatic, devil-may-care military man until his confusingly adamant refusal to investigate the bomb’s shiny exterior. 

Refusing to perform chemical testing to see if the bomb may be newer than initially thought, Tranter continues to try and defuse the device anyway until the bomb unexpectedly detonates. His behavior isn’t obvious enough to become suspicious quite yet, but you’re certainly not comfortable with him anymore.

Meanwhile, burglar and “diamond guy” Karalis, played by James, is assisting in a bank robbery planned to happen as the bomb forces a power outage. A man committing a robbery is inherently pretty shady, but I didn’t start to get suspicious until his character becomes oddly obsessed with a stolen paper envelope from the bank vault.

After the bomb detonates and the burglars escape with their loot, there is still nearly half the movie left. What began as a heist-bomb blend quickly becomes a story of trust amidst hidden agendas.

The pacing stays engaging with the two timelines, but it becomes a little slow as the movie shifts into its next phase. The scenes between Karalis and his band of thieves, and later his family, feel out of step with the rest of the movie. There weren’t many times I felt my mind wander toward my favorite “Divergent” edits rather than the movie at hand, but this was one of them.

We start to see how the two leads and a third man, who up until now felt like a filler character, have all had an underlying plan beneath everything unfolding. The twists in each of their stories and their various involvements kept me well-entertained and constantly guessing.

“Fuze” doesn’t reinvent the wheel — it feels like a fairly standard action movie with no over-the-top visuals or crazy monologues. There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about the movie, or even the acting itself, but I didn’t feel there needed to be. 

I also appreciate how accessible the movie is to someone not versed in bombs or military work. “Fuze” never gets bogged down in jargon or overwhelming detail. It maintains a nice balance with enough information to feel real and well-researched but not too technical to the point where I feel lost.

I had a feeling this was going to be the type of movie I’d recommend to my father, but I’d also recommend it to anyone looking to get sucked into a good scheme. Come for the leading men — and stay for the intrigue.

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