The Hurricane Heist
THERE are a couple of heavyweights behind this action movie. Topmost is the hurricane itself – a natural disaster that has been occurring more and more in real life. Other bigwigs are director Rob Cohen (the man behind xXx and the 2001’s The Fast And The Furious), as well as actors Toby Kebbell, Ryan Kwanten and Ben Cross. The Hurricane Heist is set on the day a Category 5 hurricane is about to hit the town of Gulfport, Alabama. The same town where Federal Reserve stores its old money before shredding it. At this particular moment, the facility holds US$600mil (RM2.3bil). Of course, robbers have set their sights on the money. Caught in all of this are brothers Will and Casey, as well as a treasury agent (Maggie Grace). In order to create the storm of the century for the film, Cohen and cinematographer Shelly Johnson decided to forgo CGI for more practical effects where possible. In the film’s production notes, Johnson said: “I got sent to Florida when Hurricane Matthew was coming in, so I made it within several miles of the eyewall. Rob said from the very beginning, ‘I want to get the camera in there, right in the middle of the storm, and I want the audience to experience what it’s like to be standing in a 100 mile an hour wind.’” After that, they recreated the storm by using miniatures and filming that. Since there is more than one type of disaster that accompanies a hurricane, Cohen and team used all sorts of tricks for the film. Of course, there are a couple of scenes featuring out-of-this-world car stunts too. – Mumtaj Begum
The Hurricane Heist opens in cinemas nationwide on March 15.