Fuze (2025) Bombs, Banks and Backstabbers

An unexploded WWII bomb is discovered on a busy construction site in the centre of London. Chaos ensues as the military and police begin a mass evacuation against a ticking clock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eosjcP7Sq4

Alright, gather ‘round, movie mavens: Fuze (2025) is one of those Brit-thrillers that literally kicks off with a bombshell – a World War II bomb unearthed at a London construction site. Director David Mackenzie (of Hell or High Water fame) and writer Ben Hopkins don’t waste time: the minute those metal claws claw the dirt, the script snaps into “London-wide panic” mode. In true UK style, the entire neighborhood is cleared out and the lights get cut before you can say “God Save the Queen” – think of it as Copenhagenize meets Die Hard. The official synopsis even brags that amid the chaos “a daring criminal operation is set in motion – one that uses the evacuation as cover for a meticulously planned heist”. In layman’s terms: some very naughty lads use the bomb scare as a distraction to drill into a vault.

The cast is delightfully unpredictable: Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Major Will Tranter (our bomb disposal head honcho) opposite Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s steely Superintendent Zuzana. Even more intriguingly, the ensemble throws in a few rising Brits like Syiah George and Matthew Earley – think of them as local diggers or random Joes caught up in all this nonsense. Theo James pops up as Karalis, a cocky diamond expert among the bank robbers, and Sam Worthington is a grizzled getaway guy (who, for the curious, was once a runner-up to play James Bond back in 2006, making this flick feel like a Bond reunion without the tuxedos). The big names are fun, but I have to say: some of the lesser-known characters could’ve used a crash course at the Bomb Squad Academy.

This isn’t just a one-note Bomb Goes Off, Then Shrug flick. Far from it – Fuze aims for blue murder with a side of Ocean’s Eleven. As soon as the street empties, the scene cuts to our bank heist crew calmly tunneling into the vault from below. We’re talking giant drill cylinders smashing concrete with nifty visuals worthy of IMAX. It’s like Thomas the Tank Engine got electroshock therapy.

What really cranks the chaos up, though, is the endless betrayals. Screenwriter Ben Hopkins apparently studied Guy Ritchie films on a do-not-disturb bunjee-jump. Everyone’s backstabbing someone – and if they’re not, they’re thinking about it. It’s like watching a royal intrigue, except instead of crowns we have C4. Some of these twists actually feel pulpy and entertaining (cheers to that), but others start to feel like the movie is trying so hard to outsmart us that it forgets its own plot. By the finale I was less Sherlock Holmes and more “Wait, who again?”

One charming thing: this is unabashed British content. It wears its UK heart on its sleeve. The cockney-accented sidekicks, the dry wit, the Queen jokes (yes, the Queen appears in a news clip, God love her), even the casual attitude toward a buried WWII bomb – it’s like Monty Python met Michael Bay, right in the Tube. And bless them, they try to keep things lively.

When it works, Fuze really works. I laughed when our bomb tech character fires off an ironic one-liner about “guns versus soldering irons,” and chuckled at a shoutout to Queen Elisabeth’s longevity amidst all this. There are some genuinely “ooh, nice move” action beats: the cutting through steel scene, a tense race-against-time defusal, and even a bit of rooftop scrambling. Gugu’s Zuzana is always on point – if she doesn’t win a “Best Undercover Boss” award for keeping her cool while Lord knows what happens, I’ll eat my Union Jack. And the double-cross gameplay actually kept me on my toes most of the time. For a rainy day in London, there’s enough adrenaline here to make Skyfall miss its call.

Alas, it’s not all cozy tea and clever plotting. There are clunks in the gears. Some of our on-screen pros act like they flunked “Bomb Defusal 101.” For instance, you wonder why it takes them so long to even suspect something fishy. One police radio chatter has to explain basic plot points out loud, presumably for viewers who got distracted scrolling TikTok. (One guy literally yells “We’re evacuating because of a bomb!” every time a camera panned away. We got it, Harold.)

Every now and then characters talk the way you’d explain things to a five-year-old scoundrel. I kept expecting a narrator to chime in, “In case you missed that very obvious clue, dear audience…” The PopEntertainment reviewer even sighs about this “once-in-a-century coincidence” premise that Fuze “never quite sells”. He’s right: at times it feels like the movie knows its plot is bonkers, so it over-explains to keep us on board. You’ll find yourself rolling your eyes at “those silly budget cuts” conspiracy theories and repeating phone calls like “Yes, Officer, there is in fact a bomb. We explained that on page one.”

Here’s a fun bit for trivia buffs: half the cast has their names tainted with Bond rumor dust. Theo James and Aaron Taylor-Johnson have both been hot picks in the next-007 sweepstakes (a.k.a. “Project Bond-age” chatroom favorites), and rumor even once had Aaron formally offered the role. Mind you, Sam Worthington (also a thief in this movie) was a Casino Royale finalist back in 2006, meaning if Fuze had been made then, you’d have four future Bonds on screen at once. Yet don’t expect actual secret agent hijinks here – there’s no “shaken-not-stirred” espresso or Aston Martins, just cement dust and British bickering. But knowing these chaps nearly had the 007 mantle makes the whole bank-breaking shenanigan feel like a cheeky sideshow in the Bond multiverse.

At the end of the day, Fuze isn’t flawless – its logic has more holes than Swiss cheese, and some dialogue made me squirm into an even straighter posture. But heck, I didn’t watch it for a lesson in adult behavior. It’s quick (96 minutes), it’s stylishly shot, and it mostly keeps the tension firing on all cylinders (even if sometimes it puts on its bulletproof vest after the villain’s ten minutes gone). It satisfies when it leans into the silliness: we get a British bomb-disposal flick that’s less about historical fidelity and more about “can we blow this thing up in style?” In short, it’s dumb fun in a quintessentially British wrapper – sort of like watching Lock, Stock with a Geiger counter.

So pull up a corner seat, chalk up a dartboard, and enjoy the ride. I’ll hand out a crisp 7.0/10 for Fuze, honoring its good intentions and cheeky thrills. Not perfect, but it keeps the spark alive – which, given all those explosions, is saying something.