Breaking In (2018)

Smart home, invasion. Gabrielle Union stays in her deceased father's home with her two children when a group of criminals break in to steal what's in her fathers safe. They only learn upon arrival how smart the house is. 

Seeing the trailer I thought this was just going to be a fun actiony thriller thing. And I was right. The children get trapped inside with the criminals whilst mama Union tries to finds her way in. So the house is kitted out. When we arrive the son finds all the surveillance, every room, every door, motion activated sensors, control panel to watch and cover that and lighting and speakers. Oh and a drone, cos why not. If this was ten years ago it might have been seen as a little stretch but now you accept it easy. And you accept how easy it is to control. 

When the family first arrive Union's character Shaun notices a few out of place things, things we find are due to the fact there had been people in the house. Pairing that with the fact it's the house she grew up in mixed with a little desperation her quick wit seems pretty believing. The four intruders were done reasonably well though one was a little excessive. The ring leader, Eddie, played by Billy Burke, means business and respects Shaun somewhat. Though underestimating her he isn't entirely surprised by her progress and successes. One of the intruders isn't really given a character but the other two work well off each other. One is s murderous and impulsive and the other already regret the decision when the kids are involved. They rock back and forth, pushing each other closer and further from redemption. We see the daughter pick up traits from her mother and help her and her brother survive. We're not given a great deal of intro other than that and that's all we need. 

The action was decent and well thought out. Stayed interesting throughout and kept tensions high during quite a few scenes. Didn't fall victim to 'she should have gone that way' or 'why didn't she do that'. Partly because the whole situation is on a time limit, The security company call 911 if systems aren't back online after the mains were cut. And partly because she's just smarter than the audience. And I'm okay with that. There were a few parts where she seemed to be able to take more hits than I would have expected a human to handle and still stand afterwards. And it definitely reminded me that hollywood mums are just fitter than real life mums, because how many other 45 year olds can fight strangers and climb onto roofs? 

The script was alright though some of the dialogue was a bit lacking. By some I mean most, most of the interesting parts of the film involved silence and action. Yes it did lean on the mama bear protecting cubs thing, which wasn't as annoying as it could have been, but was still pretty cliche in doing so. Though Union and Burke were great a cast can only go so far with what they're given. 

Had surprisingly smart scenes, would watch again/would have in the background. Just slightly more original than the standard home invasion but not by a great deal. Passable but not an urgent watch 5/10

CINEMATES - A