"The narrative pacing is still too fast. Why can’t it slow down and deeply explore the characters’ emotions and inner worlds?"
In another theater in New York, The New York Tis film critic Richard Chris frowned as the film switched to another storyline. The grief of Catherine and her daughter was depicted in just about five minutes, which made him furrow his brow. "The film should slow down even more..."
Unlike Richard Chris, the audience around him felt the pacing of the film was sowhat slow. It lacked the exhilarating tension of Duke’s previous films. Although the emotional conflicts resonated with them, the pacing was indeed slower.
This was not a purely comrcial film. With its three-line narrative structure, each storyline had to be adequately accounted for.
Ultimately, Critical Ergency, as a small-budget production, attracted viewers largely because of Duke’s own influence and the most intense police shootout in Arican history depicted in the film.
To put it bluntly, most of the audience ca to see the shootout, and Duke had already proven that this was his forte.
However, a film cannot consist solely of shootouts. Such an approach would inevitably lead to visual fatigue. Duke had to use this film as practice, and so content was indispensable. Moreover, once the story delved into characters’ inner emotions, the pacing naturally slowed.
The narrative shifted to the two robbers, Larry and Emil, with the latter being the focus.
This was a dream sequence, depicting Emil Matasareanu’s childhood and adolescence. At an early age, he experienced the pain of a broken family, living with his mother in a psychiatric hospital. For a child, this was like hell. Even worse, he was beaten by a ntally ill patient, which resulted in epilepsy.
In mainstream Hollywood films, no one is inherently evil. Emil’s descent into his current state was not solely his fault.
"He’s a bit pitiful," remarked Ivanka Trump. Although she had lived a privileged life, she was no naive socialite. "There are reasons why he ended up like this."
Yet her sympathy was shattered as soon as Emil awoke from the dream. The harsh reality of his actions crushed any rising compassion.
Emil found his epilepsy dication in a tal box filled with guns and bullets. After taking it, he cald down. But this calmness only made him more ruthless. He convinced Larry to rob another bank, starting their preparations.
Handguns, automatic rifles, thousands of bullets, and double-layer Kevlar vests—even the arms and legs were outfitted with custom double-layer Kevlar material.
The two were determined to steal $1 million, vowing in their dialogue to "turn anyone who gets in our way into Swiss cheese" if police or others intervened.
"SWAT teams take ti to arrive," Emil said confidently. "In all robbery cases, the first responders are always patrol officers and regular detectives. They don’t carry automatic weapons, only pistols and a few shotguns. Those can’t hurt us..."
The two began scouting suitable banks and armored trucks for their next heist.
"What’s this supposed to be?"
As the film switched back to Officer Michael, Richard Chris frowned even more. "Why not delve deeper into the criminals’ inner worlds? Since you’ve introduced it, you should explore it further instead of just skimming over it!"
However, the film refused to follow his expectations.
Officer Michael’s relationship with his daughter seed on the brink of collapse. Yet he couldn’t focus on that, preoccupied with tracking every lead in the robbery case. Everything pointed to the conclusion that the two rciless criminals would strike again.
The inner lives of the robbers were partially explored, as Richard Chris had hoped, but only to a limited extent. For instance, both were fitness enthusiasts, and their childhood environnts were miles away from happiness.
But every ti their past and psyche were explored, the film quickly shifted back to their cold preparations for the next big heist, shattering any fleeting sympathy with brutal reality.
"They should be shot on sight!"
Around Richard Chris, many viewers expressed similar sentints, leaving the renowned critic visibly displeased.
No matter his opinions, the film continued unfolding as planned.
At her husband’s funeral, Catherine and her daughter once again t Officer Michael. Faced with a family overwheld by grief, Michael could only make a dry promise to catch the culprits.
Before Michael could track down the criminals, he encountered another problem at ho: he discovered his daughter using cocaine.
The conflict between father and daughter erupted completely. Michael, stubborn by nature and hardened by his profession, insisted on sending Lily to rehab. Their argunt reached a fever pitch when he received a call about a new lead and had to leave abruptly.
"You’ve never cared about ! Never!"
Watching her father leave, Lily’s eyes filled with despair. "All you care about is work. I’m not your family—your family is the LAPD!"
She sat in agony on the couch. Even being sent to rehab would feel better than this.
Michael’s partner uncovered a clue, and Michael deduced that the robbers might target a bank in North Hollywood. But without evidence, his superiors dismissed the idea. North Hollywood, one of Los Angeles’ busiest districts, couldn’t be locked down based on a hunch.
Still, the departnt decided to deploy surveillance helicopters the following morning.
anwhile, Larry and Emil settled on robbing an armored truck at a Bank of Arica branch the next day, coldly preparing for their heist.
At ho, Catherine planned to take her daughter to the bank the next day to sort out her late husband’s financial matters.
At dawn, Michael called ho to confirm that Lily was still there before heading to North Hollywood with his partner.
It was the last Friday in February. North Hollywood buzzed as usual. At the Bank of Arica on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Catherine arrived early. Reluctant to enter, her daughter stayed in the car while Catherine went inside.
Nearby, a white Chevrolet slowly parked along a route leading to the bank. Larry and Emil, more heavily ard than before, had an AK-47 with a drum magazine in the back seat, waiting for the armored truck.
On the congested Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Michael and his partner, in plainclothes, drove past the bank but stopped due to traffic. Seeing nothing suspicious, they contacted the helicopter team, which reported a nearby car accident causing the gridlock.
At the LAPD, Officer Jas had just picked up equipnt for his SWAT team, preparing for their daily training.
In a Los Angeles neighborhood, Lily woke up after a night on the couch. She freshened up in the bathroom and turned on the TV. ABC’s news anchor was reporting the city’s terrible traffic conditions via helicopter footage.
It was an ordinary morning. Everything seed routine. No one realized that a cri that would shock the nation was about to unfold.
Richard Chris glanced at his watch. The movie had only been on for about 50 minutes, yet the director had reserved 40 minutes for the shootout! This was an unforgivable mistake!
The film should have dedicated more ti to exploring the characters’ psychological transformations rather than chaotic gunfights.
Based on a true story, Duke Rosenberg was utterly wasting the material!
Angry, Chris noticed the audience around him was brimming with anticipation. They trusted the director’s ability to handle large-scale scenes and were eager to see how the infamous shootout would be portrayed on screen.
"The multi-narrative structure earlier felt slightly drawn out," Jane lauder remarked to Ivanka while waiting for the climactic scene. "But the depiction of the robbers’ past and present lives, highlighting their cruelty and ruthlessness, wasn’t bad. At least the setup wasn’t dull. Although the pacing was a bit slow, it’s much better than Heat, which dragged on endlessly and nearly put to sleep."
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