The amount of work Paul Galvin puts into a heist ought to scare a lot of kids straight,
but that is what his business requires. According to his nemesis at the FBI,
Jack Strickland: “a high asset robbery, professionally conceived, is twelve
months in planning, twelve hours in execution. A bank robber who is not caught
within twelve days, is not caught at all.” Hence this series’ title and the
three separate time-frames it constantly intercuts. Hoowever, Galvin’s brother
Bobby is more of a smash-and-grabber. That leads to friction in co-creators
Dudi Appleton & Jim Keeble’s eight-episode 12 12 12, which starts
streaming tomorrow on Apple TV+.
Frankly,
this job is all Bobby Galvin’s fault. He fell so deeply into debt with the underworld,
Bazan, the French crime boss, forced him to recruit his brother for one final
score. As jobs go, it couldn’t be riskier. Thanks to looming reforms, Swiss
bank accounts will no longer be completely anonymous. However, the same old
Swiss discretion still applies to Swiss safety deposit boxes, so the Russian mafia
plans to cash out their accounts and park the cash in rented vault space. The
Galvins must steal that cash.
Meanwhile,
Strickland has tracked the Galvin Brothers to Europe, at great expense to his
formerly fast-tracked career. Strickland nearly had the Galvins in Newark, but
his partner was gunned down during their incredibly messy getaway. Awkwardly, she
also happened to be his romantic partner, and his boss’s wife. Ever since, he
has blamed Billy Galvin for the execution-style death. Of course, viewers will probably
guess he is half right.
According
to their concept, Appleton and Keeble constantly skip forward and backwards, as
they unfold their planning, implementation, and getaway narratives. The gimmick
is always very conspicuous, but it still works surprisingly well. Arguably, it
adds considerable intrigue to the caper, which maybe would not seem so notable
otherwise.
Anthony
Mackie also elevates the drama as the self-destructively edgy Special Agent
Strickland. He undeniably adds a major element of unpredictability. Conversely,
the angsty sibling love-hate relationship quickly grows tiresome. Still, Jack
Kesy (the latest Hellboy) is memorably ferocious as thuggish Bobby. Jamie
Dornan tries to take Paul in the opposite, slow-burning direction, but he cannot
compete with Mackie, in that respect.
Unfortunately,
the Galvins’ eclectic team of co-conspirators are not as colorful as they ought
to be. Only Jose Garcia and Kali Reis standout as Brother Paul’s grizzled
step-father (who conveniently happens to be a mine-tunnelling expert) and the
punky train expert he recruits. The only other character who registers to any
extent is the ruthless Bazan, portrayed by Jeanne Balibar.
The Battle of Dhu Qar of the early 600’s AD represents a surprising choice of
subject matter for Saudi Arabia’s largest film project to date (filmed in the desert surrounding the Neom "mega-city"). It chronicles a
pre-Islamic rebellion against a tyrannical monarch. That definitely sounds like
two strikes against it. However, it resulted in a major Arab victory over the
Persians, so there is that. More importantly for most potential viewers, it
depicts warfare conducted on camels and elephants. Princess Hind (yes, a woman)
unifies the many quarrelling tribes forced to pay tribute to Emperor Kisra II
in Rupert Wyatt’s Desert Warrior, which releases this Friday in
theaters.
Lately,
Kisra has demanded more than tribute. He also requires a daughter from each of
the vassal tribal kings, whom he takes as a concubine. That was too much for
Hind’s father, King Al-Numan. Refusing to submit, the King and Princess become
fugitives, fleeing Kisra’s warrior-slave, Jalabzeen, who hopes capturing them
will earn him his freedom.
They
only barely escape, thanks to Hanzala’s timely intercession. In exchange for a
jeweled dagger, the bandit helps them reach temporary safety with the Shaybani,
where Chief Hani offers them the protection of his hospitality. Despite his
mercenary motives, Hanzala holds his own grudge against Jalabzeen.
Nevertheless, he is not very welcome in the Shaybani Territory.
In
fact, such rivalries always kept the tribes divided and therefore easy for Kisra
II and his predecessors to dominate. Tired of running, Hind decides to use the
best and the worst of the Chiefs motivations to finally unite against the Persians.
Chief Hani joins out of principle, while the Princess manipulates others with
promises of revenge and plunder, the former being much more likely than the
latter.
Of
course, they are still vastly outnumbered, but Hind, Hani, and their allies
develop some truly merciless scorched earth tactics. Indeed, the final
climactic battle more than compensates for the film’s meandering mid-section. In
fact, several of the battle charges compare favorably with the spectacle of Jodhaa Akbar.
Weirdly,
even though Anthony Mackie brings a strong, brooding presence to the proceedings,
the character of Hanzala feels conspicuously shoehorned into the narrative to
give the film greater commercial viability. Yes, he saves Princess Hind several
times, but these duties could have been easily transferred to Chief Hani and
his commanders. Still, Mackie has convincing action cred, which serves Desert
Warrior well.
