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This gripping heist thriller had a cinematic release mere weeks ago – but it’s already available to stream from the comfort of your sofa.
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Theo James – both of whom have had their names in the running to be the next James Bond – Fuze is packed with action, as a World War II bomb is discovered on a building site in central London.
As police and the military work together to coordinate a mass evacuation against a ticking clock, it provides daring thieves with a perfect smokescreen to put a master plan into action.
What follows is a meticulously organised bank robbery of money and jewellery, which blurs the lines between alliances and morality and is never short on twists and white-knuckle tension.
Directed by David Mackenzie, Fuze premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September and had a cinema run this April.
It is now available to watch on both Sky Cinema and NOW with subscriptions.
The crime thriller, in which Taylor-Johnson, 35, plays Major Will Tranter and James, 41, plays Karalis, has landed well, scoring a respectable 73% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a similar 78% from audiences.
Among the reviews, Jeannette Catsoulis from the New York Times declares that ‘Fuze hurtles along entertainingly and with no small amount of tension’.
Randy Myers of the San Jose Mercury News praises Mackenzie, who has made 10 feature films, for ‘never taking the weight off the pedal’, imploring audiences to ‘put the brain on mute and just enjoy’.
‘A brilliant thriller that has one of the biggest twists in cinematic history. A fantastic screenplay that just keeps the audience guessing throughout. A must see if you like an intense movie experience,’ writes David Griffiths of Subculture Entertainment.
Keith Garlington also compliments the plot for not ‘lazily following the usual formula’, and the top-tier cast for providing ‘sheer entertainment’.
As for audiences, their feedback is mixed, with the likes of Lizzy838 saying it has ‘shades of Guy Ritchie’, but the story becomes ‘a little convoluted’.
Meanwhile, SlickReviewer called it ‘underrated’, and RT01569678 said Fuze, which also stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sam Worthington, is ‘intense from the start’.
As for its box office performance, alas, Fuze failed to make an explosive impact, grossing a worldwide total of $4.2million (£3.1m) against a reported budget of $45m (£33.6m) – but perhaps it can land with a bang on streaming instead, ahead of its Blu-ray and DVD release in July.
Speaking about working on Fuze, 28 Years Later star Taylor-Johnson, who was the frontrunner to succeed Daniel Craig as 007 before Callum Turner overtook him, explained how he was enticed by the ‘page-turning, intensely thrilling script’.
He told Times Live: ‘The film keeps you on the edge of your seat, knowing that lives are at stake. A bomb is found, the evacuation begins, and then you realise that, simultaneously, a heist is taking place. The bomb is a decoy for something bigger with more players involved.’
Taylor-Johnson added that the cast and crew were keen to achieve ‘authenticity’, working closely with high-level ex-military experts.
‘Of course, there’s a balance between striving for authenticity and telling a dramatic story,’ said the actor.
‘There are twists and turns where we use creative license and sometimes gallows humour, which works well in the more chaotic situations. Other times we wanted to emphasise the pressure, the fear, and the anxiety.’
Fuze is available to stream on Sky Cinema and NOW.
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