To the very end, we still have some unanswered questions. All of it leads to a thrilling climax and then a rather strange epilogue.
(Not to give too much away, but if Gustavo had seen “Speed” he would have been hip to one of the tricks pulled off by Walter and company.) “The Vault” takes detours into subplots involving a possible romance between Thom and Lorraine a British government attorney played by Famke Janssen, who is Walter’s ally but maybe she isn’t, and the story behind Simon and the portable radio he carries with him at all times.
Jose Coronado does splendid work as Gustavo, the tough-minded, no-nonsense head of security for the Bank of Spain, who has an obsessive dedication to his work and doubles/triples/quadruples security measures when he gets wind of an attempted heist of the vault. But to complete the puzzle he needs the talents of one Thom Laybrick (Freddie Highmore), a genius-level engineering school graduate with a rebellious streak who is in the midst of turning down six-figure job offers from oil companies when he gets a mysterious text inviting him to change his life forever - and before you can say “screenplay contrivance,” Thom is all-in on the dangerous mission, which will result in either a lifetime of riches or a near-lifetime prison sentence. Walter’s crew includes the former MI6 operative and ace diver James (Sam Riley), master of disguises and cons Lorraine (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), the sentimental, reliable old hand Simon (Luis Tosar) and the German computer hacker Klaus (Axel Stein).
Walter also happens to be a heist-master of considerable skills, so he maps out a crazy plan to reclaim the treasure from the vault some 120 feet below the Bank of Spain - a vault with a series of steel doors, a vault that floods to drown any would-be thieves. “The Onion Knight” on “Game of Thrones,” is squarely in his comfort zone as Walter Moreland, a salty old British deep-sea shipwreck salvager who finds a legendary treasure buried by Sir Francis Drake - only to have it seized because the prize was in Spanish national waters. The Irish-born Cunningham, best known for his role as Davos Seaworth a.k.a. Set against the backdrop of Spain’s run to the FIFA World Cup in 2010, this is a sometimes convoluted but entertaining thriller with some pulse-pounding sequences where nearly move is fraught with peril and we hold our breaths hoping our antiheroes can pull off the Heist of the Century (or at least ONE of the Heists of the Century). Santaolalla, Michel Gaztambide and Rowan Athale. Freddie Highmore (The Good Doctor) and Famke Janssen (X-Men) star in this globe-trotting, action-packed thriller following a high-risk. Nevertheless, he still has a likable quality, and his casting is easy to overlook in favor of the rest of the movie's fun.Saban Films and Paramount Pictures present a film directed by Jaume Balagueró and written by Rafa Martiěnez, Andreěs Koppel, Borja Glez. He's all grown up here, but he doesn't seem to have much range, and he often wears the same semi-blank expression. A potential weak link is Highmore, previously best known as the child star of Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, and more. Famke Janssen appears in a few scenes as a British intelligence officer whose sole job is to talk Walter out of his crazy scheme, but even she brings a little something to the proceedings. The cast of The Vault is largely made up of "types," but they keep the patter snappy, and each character gets a certain degree of individuality. The fact that the vault is based on old mechanics and must be solved with simple logic feels like a bracing change from similar, technology-driven stories (it also recalls the National Treasure movies). Balagueró keeps up roller-coaster suspense while keeping the tone breezy and light - and without resorting to much violence (though he certainly could have made more of the World Cup framing device).
Directed by Spanish-born Jaume Balagueró, known for his terrifying found-footage horror movie (2007) and its sequels, The Vault feels like a refreshing departure. This spirited, fleet-footed heist tale feels like a lower-rent Mission: Impossible or Ocean's movie, but its intriguing puzzle and likable characters make it a pleasant distraction.