Security is a 2017 action film about a security guard who protects a woman being targeted by a gang for participating as a trial witness.
Taken for what they are, action movies pretty much depend on the same few ingredients, mostly being a tough (typically male) burdened hero thrust into a deadly situation beyond their control. It’s a formula that, in the right hands can make for a great time at the movies. However, with Alain Desrochers‘ latest thriller Security, there’s a lot that is familiar in a movie that follows the recipe pretty closely, playing out like a low end Die Hard meets Home Alone despite an earnest lead performance and a few solid moments.
Eduardo ‘Eddie’ Deacon (Antonio Banderas) is a former captain in the U.S. Army, now out of work for more than year and desperate to get a job. After pleading his case to a placement employee, who conveniently lets pass his psych evals, which evidently reveal something though we are never told what, he lands a job as night security at a local mall on the road between two small towns. On his first night though, after meeting the four other misfits patrolling the place, a young girl comes screaming at the gate to be let in. Turns out she’s Jamie (Katherine de la Rocha), a witness to the vicious cartel killing of her parents. Led by ‘Charlie’ (Ben Kingsley), they want her and will stop at nothing to see her dead. Can the small crew outlast the night before help can arrive?
Security isn’t trying to be anything more than what it is, a simple high-octane shooter with all the prerequisites. Eddie comes fully-loaded with all the survival skills needed to quickly train his new crew and pull off a number of god-like stunts in taking out baddies, never missing a shot. Chaos rules the darkened halls as the hired guns fall victim to the boobie traps Eddie and the others, including Vance (Liam McIntyre), the wanna be rockstar security guard in charge and Ruby (Gabriella Wright), the hot brunette hungover from a night out partying, lay out. Standing over it all is Charlie, himself a walking chiché, smiling calmly, communicating to Eddie via walkie talkie. It’s about as rote as one could get, and even if a few moments come unexpected, they are far and few between. At least the fates of some are earned.
Banderas has a great physical presence, always has, and a lot of the film is saved simply with him being the lead. He’s right at home in the part and while the film flounders with the predictable, at least he gives the movie some heart. Tonally, it wobbles, with the security guards themselves introduced as comedic sidekicks rather than legit, making it hard to believe when they do step up. There are a few good action moments and even a couple of surprises, but otherwise, this is textbook moviemaking.