Fuze

When an unexploded World War II bomb is uncovered at a London building site, a joint task force is put in place between the police (headed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and a military unit commanded by Major Will Tranton (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to disarm it. While that section of the city has been evacuated, a team of highly organised criminals seize the opportunity to pull off an elaborate heist. Following a series of unexpected twists, director David Mackenzie and screenwriter Ben Hopkins aim to take Fuze into madcap territory reminiscent of a Guy Ritchie thriller. Although the action is tightly paced and brought to life by a dazzling cast, a flat personality and slight identity crisis stop this flick from living up to its fun premise.

The script doesn’t waste any time jumping straight into the action. Within minutes of the bomb’s discovery, Tranton and his team are on site and in contact with the police just as the criminals set their own plan in motion. Developments like the explosive’s timer still being active and the police closing in on the robbers effectively raise the tension as the film cuts between each plot thread. An impassioned performance from Taylor-Johnson conveys the severity of the situation as he barks orders at his team. However, it doesn’t take long for the filmmakers to run out of ideas on how to build upon the suspense at this stage, with heated confrontations between characters coming across as artificial.

The story finds its footing again once it begins branching out in the second act. This is where the bulk of its twists are, which take events in compelling new directions. While the introduction of a vicious crime boss and some moments of punchy violence serve to transform the feature into a gritty British crime thriller, Mackenzie doesn’t inject enough energy to make this concept work. Aside from a brief scene that incorporates music from a car radio to brilliant effect, there’s a disappointing lack of style present. The majority of scenes are flat and one-note, something made more noticeable by how one-dimensional the characters are.

Fuze is a snappy thriller that takes viewers to a completely different place from where it started. Although its ensemble cast keep audiences engaged throughout, this feature doesn’t have the genre flair needed for it to work as intended.

Andrew Murray

Fuze is released on Sky on 3^rd April 2026.

Watch the trailer for Fuze here: