FUZE
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Worthington, Saffron Hocking, and Elham Ehsas
Director: David Mackenzie
AMARÚ
Director David Mackenzie wastes no time putting Fuze’s fun machinations into motion, and there isn’t an ounce of dead weight in its 98-minute well-oiled, military crime, cat-and-mouse games. Like clockwork, each scene meticulously moves at a pace that keeps you guessing (sometimes correctly, sometimes not), but never bombastically so. Once you’re dropped in, your eyes never stop looking for the next exit, the next deception, or the next sleaze ball maneuver from a fully game Theo James. Fuze is a ticking time bomb that never feels out of control yet keeps its players and its audience continuously looking around the next corner.
BODE
Fuze sees director David Mackenzie back in heist mode and delivering his most meat-and potatoes take on it yet, wasting no time getting into its cat-and-mouse shenanigans. And as someone who still gets a kick out of this kind of thing, I’ll admit I had some fun with it. It’s formulaic, sure, but it’s confident enough in its own skin that it moves along at a brisk pace, and the cast is solid enough to make it work. As long as you ignore the final moments, designed to tell the audience what they already know, it’s a decent enough time.
This film was reviewed by Amarú as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.