Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Executscan Expected more

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

nadinesalakovv Contraband is an underrated movie. The performances are intense and well-acted, the film has good directing and the movie plot is decent. They went with a visually dark tone from start to finish which supports the story line. If you like crime thrillers, i recommend this. Maybe you have already seen this flick, maybe you haven't, but this is one of those movies that flew under the radar. Contraband is a must-watch. The only problem i have with this film is a very brief scene that features a wolf in a cage. As an animal lover, things like that bother me, but i presume everything is fine and that the animal is from a conservation animal place because they won't be able to use wild animals that literally live in the wild.

Carlos Barton After only reviewing movies recently which I find to be perfect, time to look at Contraband, something that in one scene, completely rips off an excellent moment from Heat, which turns out to be one of my all time favourite films.Plotwise, this young drug smuggler gets in trouble with his boss for losing some dope, so his older brother, a retired smuggler, hatches a plan to get some fake currency from Panama City to New Orleans.Sadly, from the get-go, this movie becomes hideously clichéd and for the most of the movie, as many other reviewers have pointed out, it's by-the-numbers from there. Thankfully you have Everest director Baltasar Kormákur to help salvage the film.Acting is fairly average, but many are hindered by the terrible writing. Mark Wahlberg gives his all and puts in a very reliable performance, while Ben Foster, who some consider to be one of the most underrated actors of his generation, produces scene-stealing work, and without giving away a twist about his character half-way through.J.K. Simmons produces mild comic relief, while everyone else is 'meh'. By the way, the worst job is by Giovanni Ribisi, although if he didn't try to put on an awful and unrecognizable (Southern?) accent he may well have made an effective adversary that actually belonged in the movie.It might sound like a strange thing to say, but Contraband had potential. If the story had the same basic plot motivation, but was modified by an established screenwriter, you had way less 'shaky cam' and zooming, the editing was less frenetic in places (excellent in the action scenes, though) and there was a better director, someone in the mould of Ridley Scott, for example, this might still be talked about today, 3 years later.Alas, I have to say, I just wasted 2 hours of my life watching this.

mrpoizun If all you want is an entertaining action film, this one is completely acceptable. Mark Wahlberg plays Mark Wahlberg, and I happen to like his usual screen persona, that of likable tough guy. But this movie does require a LOT of suspension of disbelief. Fist of all, there's the casting. The worst is Giovanni Ribisi. A less-imposing bad guy you'll never see. His weird high-pitched voice with an indecipherable accent along with a few verbal ticks will have you wondering why anyone would be afraid of him. Then there's Kate Beckinsale. It's impossible to believe that this elegant British beauty could be the foul-mouthed trailer park trash wife of a lowlife ex-smuggler. Even more laughable is the guy who plays her brother, a greasy, zit-faced, moronic little dweeb who couldn't possibly be related to her unless he was adopted from the pound. Beyond that, there are the usual absurdities of movies. The police never show up unless the script requires their presence, there's seldom any consequences for criminal acts, etc. In the end, Wahlberg is really just as bad as any other criminal. He's just more likable and intelligent. And the movie is an interesting look into the world of contraband smuggling on cargo ships. Have fun watching it. But be sure to check your sense of reality at the door.

Prismark10 There is something rather derivative about Contraband. Then again Giovanni Ribisi who plays a drug kingpin who somehow lives in a housing project threatens the life of Mark Wahlberg's brother in law for a drug smuggling operation gone wrong and it falls to Wahlberg to put things right you recall Gone in 60 seconds when it was Ribisi who was the unfortunate brother who had to be rescued by Nicolas Cage who had to steal customised cars in order to placate the gangsters.Mark Wahlberg and his crew are former ace smugglers now going straight. He has a wife (Kate Beckinsale) and 2 kids. However because his brother in law dumped drugs on the side of a ship, he is forced to go to Panama with some of his crew to make amends.For some reason his best friend (Ben Foster) stays behind but he is not left to protect Wahlberg's family who surely are in the mercy of Ribisi, especially as Wahlberg earlier attacked him and pulled a gun on him.In fact things would had been more simpler but also shorter if Wahlberg had just shot Ribisi there and then.What we have is a convoluted and confusing smuggling story where they plan to smuggle fake bills. However the brother in law steals the fake bills and buys cocaine as Ribisi keeps on threatening. Not sure how he knew his way around the Panama underworld, worse still by stealing the money he left the rest of the gang in the mercy of a gangland war lord. Lucky for them the warlord needed several people for a heist involving a Jackson Pollock and Wahlberg comes in handy.Still Ribisi always seem to be in the know and Wahlberg cannot really put his finger on it even though he is constantly keeping Foster in the loop.This really is one dumb action film. Its like a bad Tony Scott action film. You have scenes where Beckinsale who is being terrorised by Ribisi and she leaves her kids alone. She gets attack again, goes to stay with another friend and then goes to Foster's house to get some things. Why?There is not an ounce of originality in this film. Its badly shot, boringly directed and only J K Simmons as the ship's Captain makes the most of his brief role.