I wanted to like this Spanish heist thriller a lot as I adore the director's REC and SLEEP TIGHT, but sadly there are too many problems here for it to work. Which is a surprise as heist films are usually easy to make and enjoy. I was put off by Freddie Highmore, who seems to be channelling the autistic doctor he plays in another show, and the female Burn Gorman lookalike fails to impress too. The old timers do better but are given little to do. The vault itself is ridiculously designed and veers more into fantasy than real life, and the science is deeply flawed too. This is a film that works best when the thrills are realistic and there are some good suspense bits, just not enough of them.

Ok so Way Down or The Vault or Crime Game as it is known in Germany. Maybe this will get a couple more titles thrown its way. To come close to the members of the group trying to pull off one major heist. Now the people here are not Oceans material, so do not compare the movies. And there were heist movies before Ocean and there will be more after this too.

I did not know this was Jaume, whom I know and have seen mainly horror/thrillers from. But this suits him too (no pun intended). Yes it's not as already said something entirely knew (he has done new see his previous films),but he gathers quite the team (of actors) here, from many parts of the world.

It may be a bit long at times (running time wise),but it works its charm with the story and the twists. All the actors are on the top of their game and while of course thi has flaws and cliches, they never really become too big an obstacle - when it comes to take away fun or excitement for the viewer. Just go with the flow.

Ugh, well at least they tried.

I am sort of amazed that writers Rafa Martínez, Andrés M. Koppel, Borja Glez. Santaolalla, Michel Gaztambide and Rowan Athale could collectively managed to churn out such a subpar script. But I guess too many people working on a single thing can become a hindrance.

"Way Down" (aka "The Vault") was showing promise in the first part of the movie, but it quickly descended into mediocrity and then slipped beyond that. I started to care less and less about the storyline as the movie progressed. And it didn't really help much that the characters in the movie failed to reach out and provide me with much of any entertainment. I felt that the character gallery in the movie was just lacking individual personalities and traits, as everyone was essentially a drone.

This movie had potential, but ended up being just another heist movie, and not an overly great one at that. So if you enjoy heist movies, there are far better options out there. Sure, there were some interesting ideas along the way, but the abundance of writers working on the script were just tripping one another along the way, and it made for a less than mediocre movie experience.

It does amaze me that the movie was so boring, especially since it had a pretty interesting ensemble of casted actors and actresses, with the likes of even Liam Cunningham and Famke Janssen.

The movie's story was progressing too slow for my liking, and it was was increasingly becoming more and more difficult to keep having an interest in the storyline as the story dragged on and on at a painfully slow pace.

"Way Down" was by no means an outstanding movie, and this is definitely not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, nor is it a movie that I would recommend anyone to rush out the get to watch.

My rating of director Jaume Balagueró's 2021 action thriller lands on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. There are far better heist movies readily available out there in an abundance. This one came and went without leaving as much as a dent.