R | 1h 38m | Heist, Thriller | 2026
“Fuze,” is an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) thriller that doubles a heist flick. You’ve got ticking devices, sweaty foreheads, bad decisions being made under impossible deadlines, sparkly diamonds, and stacks of cash. Efficient, rousing, and intermittently thrilling, “Fuze” is also instantaneously forgettable.
WWII Bomb
Maj. Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is summoned to a London construction site where a backhoe has unearthed the tip of an intact World War II bomb. Mass evacuations ensue! But what’s this? A second, internal ticking mechanism is detected. It’s determined that the bomb could “detonate any minute for the next 48 hours.”
Military and the police are all over it. Chief Superintendent Zuzana Greenfield (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) soon realizes there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Could it be … a diversion?
With everyone looking over here at the bomb, a heist crew that includes X (Sam Worthington) and Karalis (Theo James), is drilling through a subterranean wall into an adjacent bank.
Does the Right Hand Know What the Left Hand Is Doing?
The two plotlines eventually merge and betrayals and double-crosses abound. What kicked off as a ticking-time-bomb thriller evolves into an actioner that has very little to do with bombs. Director Mackenzie, who directed the instant-classic Neo-Western heist flick “Hell or High Water,” keeps the disparate elements of two different plot trajectories afloat, and both the reserved first half, and the high-gear second half, are rather enjoyable.
Extremely charismatic Aaron Taylor-Johnson is probably due for an Oscar-caliber showcase soon, although it probably won’t be the upcoming and much-anticipated “Werwulf.” That said, Theo James effortlessly steals scenes—you’ll root for him, then hate him, then question the morality of his motivations. Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sam Worthington are given too little to do, but provide solid support.
The film’s London setting isn’t romanticized, but seems chosen primarily to provide a realistic setting for the natural British accents of Taylor-Johnson and Mbatha-Raw.
Despite all its rug-pulls, “Fuze” doesn’t offer much in the way of novelty, aside from the fact that the central heist’s ridiculous complexity is borderline laughable—how long did it take these guys to plot all that? However, the high-octane, muscular action sweeps most of the nonsense under the rug.
‘Fuze’
Director: David Mackenzie
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Sam Worthington, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes
Release Date: April 24, 2026
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
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