Set it off

Year of release : 1996

Run time : 2h3m

Genre : Crime / Action

Cast : Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise, Blair Underwood, John C. McGinley, Dr. Dre

The movie opens with Frankie,who works at the bank. She notices a suspicious looking man, she actually knows from her neighborhood, and states how she never saw him outside the projects. The man pulls the gun on her, and asks her to give him the money. She refuses, so he grabs a customer, and sho0ts her, while his 2 accomplices reveal themselves, holding guns. Her colleague gives him the money, while Frankie is in shock, and a police officer manages to shoot one of them before being shot. The man Frankie knew sho0ts a police officer, while one officer who was wounded sho0ts him when trying to leave.

Although she had nothing to do with it, Frankie is fired from her job, because although she knew what to do in such cases, she didn’t, and they think she might be in on it, as she knew the man.

Stony hosts a ‘70’s party, and her younger brother, Stevie, tells her he didn’t get the scholarship to get into UCLA. Stony desperately wants him to go to college, so she tells him she’ll figure something out.

Stony works for Luther, as a janitor, with 2 more of her friends, and Frankie joins them, as she needs money. Luther treats them with disrespect, always berating them.

While out one day, Cleo says the four of them could r0b a bank, since others are doing it, and thinks they could do it better. Cleo is gay, and is dating a woman who refuses to speak.

Although Stony is against it, Frankie tells them they could actually do it, as she worked at the bank, and she knows the insides.

Stony is trying to get a better job, and asks the man who offers her one for an advance. So he asks her to have s3x with him. She does, and when she tells her brother she has the money to pay for his college, he tells her he didn’t get accepted !

Stevie goes to see one of the men who r0bbed the bank, and liking his haircut, with an AP at the back of the head, the guy asks his girlfriend to give him one just like his. Leaving, the police surround the robber’s house, and seeing the AP at the back of his head, they think it’s the robber. Seeing he puts his hand in the pocket, they shoot, thinking he has a gun, and k1ll him.

Stony is devastated.

 

They talk more about r0bbing banks, and one of them who has a kid, wants no part in it. One day she brings her kid to work, and he drinks from the products for cleaning. Taking him to the hospital, child services show up, taking him away. She decides to join in, as she needs the money now, to take him back.

While doing recon work to r0b a bank, Stony meets Keith, the bank’s manager, a nice guy who really likes her, and they start dating.

Before the r0bbery Cleo steals a car, and throws out all the CDs she doesn’t like.

They wear straight hair wings with sunglasses, and enter the bank. Ready to r0b it, the single mother pulls out ,afraid to do it, but the other three friends go along with their plan.

Although she took no part in it, the single mother wants a share too, because she doesn’t have money, thing which made her annoying. The others take her side when Frankie says she didn’t help, so she doesn’t deserve a share, because she needs it more than any of them. She’s not willing to take the risk, but wants the benefits.

While the others stick to their menial jobs, Cleo quits for a week, wasting the money on ridiculous things for herself, but mostly for her mute girlfriend.

The same police officers investigating the robbery, investigated the r0bbery at Frankie’s bank due to which she was fired. The detective on the case wants to investigate Frankie as he realized she is friends with Stevie’s sister, and thinks they are behind the r0bberies. The irony is, she was innocent, and now they are gonna think her involved in everything.

The women talk about r0bbing another bank, while Stony wants out, and Cleo puts her gun on her face. Obviously, Stony gets upset, but Cleo thinks she’s in the right, sticking her gun in her friend’s face.

It’s obvious they’re not going to stop, as they got the taste for it now.

The movie rather bored me, as the leads were so bad at what they were doing! They r0bb3d banks without wearing masks, without gloves! One of them was arrested before, and didn’t think of wearing gloves even when stealing cars, and leaving her fingerprints everywhere in the car and on the CDs she didn’t like!

The leads went pretty much on a downward spiral, as the more they robbed the deeper they sunk into the sh1thole. SPOILERS On their last job, although they wear masks, they take them off when the police say they know them!!

I honestly disliked the leads.

I hated the hair they gave Vivica. I loved the hair Jada and Kimberly had.

The acting was good.

I didn’t like the soundtrack, and didn’t like the songs chosen for the movie either, as they didn’t age well, they sounded generic.

The movie received positive reviews from critics, Cinema Score audiences grading it an A!

The movie grossed 41.6 million dollars at the box office, against a budget of 9 million, being a hit.

Rating : Could have been a contender !