After failing to get into the police academy, Chris Potamitis (Liam Hemsworth), settles for a security guard job with the Empire State Armored Truck Company. Chris makes the mistake of mentioning the company's lax security to his best friend, Eddie (Michael Angarano), and is soon unwittingly drawn into a scheme to rob the abundant amounts of cash being stored there - resulting in the largest cash heist in U.S. History. As the stakes continue to rise, Chris and Eddie must outwit James Ransone (Dwayne Johnson), the veteran NYPD Detective that is hot on their trail, as well as the local crime bosses that want to know who pulled a job on their turf, or suffer the consequences.
The eighties setting is realistic and it looked like it had so much potential to be a fun or interesting thriller. Based on a shocking real-life incident, Empire State is frustratingly dull, half-baked and mediocre through and through. Dwayne Johnson and Emma Roberts who are on the poster are just glorified cameos. I don't know what they were thinking when they signed up for this. Its all about two simple-minded idiotic guys, Chris (yes, even him for letting his unbalanced friend know about the state of the place) and Eddie and their choices. Liam Hemsworth is miscast and looks like he's barely learnt how to act. He isn't charismatic enough like his real-life brother, Chris (Thor) to take on a lead role. Michael Angarano is the loud-mouthed, stupid, stereotypical best friend who plays it over-the-top and gets annoying quickly, but his was the only character that I was glad to see no matter the annoyance. They shouldn't get the blame though since its the writer and director who let the movie down. The execution is lacking and the movie is full of clichés and mediocrity. They did the right thing by releasing it straight to DVD. Skip it even if you're a fan of Dwayne Johnson or any of the actors.
4/10
