Trap House review by Bobby Blakey
Dave Bautista has been mixing things up over the last few years with mixes of action, comedy and drama. He has shown that he can take them all on and no sign of slowing down. His latest film, Trap House features a great cast including Jack Champion, Sophia Lillis, Tony Dalton, Bobby Cannavale, Kate Del Castillo and Blu del Barrio. Could this latest film bring more of what fans love from Bautista or will it get caught up in its own struggles?
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Trap House follows El Paso DEA Agent Ray Seale and his team who infiltrate a drug trafficking operation run by notorious cartel boss ‘Guzman’. But things go wrong and one of his team is shot and killed. In the aftermath, the slain agent’s son, Jesse, is devastated and struggles financially having to move back to Spain with his mom. Ray’s own son, Cody, feels sorry for Jesse and bands together a group of other DEA kids to utilize their skills and access to resources to enact revenge, stealing money from trap houses operated by the Guzman family. As the teenage ring of thieves goes for riskier targets, the DEA and the cartel close in. Cody quickly realizes he’s entered them all into a deadly game, and when Ray Seale finds out the truth, he must desperately protect his son from the increasing danger that has resulted from their heists.
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I am always cautious going into films like this because they have the potential to bring something great to the genre but also tend to be obvious why it got a smaller release. This film walks the line down the middle with it working when it needs to be never taking too many chances to really stand out. The story itself is fine with it a little out there where the young people take things, but at the same time that’s how most of these things play out in real life when people make insane decisions.
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I give the film credit for not making them suddenly perfect at their tasks. Being the kids of parents in the DEA also gives them the connections and time around some
element of these kinds even though it would never be enough for them to know how to pull any of these things off. The cast is fine with Bautista once again getting to flex some dramatic chops with the action and does a good job as usual. The focus is more on the kids in the film than the DEA themselves, but they still get plenty of action time.
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There are some twists that most will see coming although one element might throw some off. To my surprise, while it wraps things up it also offers up an element that is clearly setting up a sequel. It could have easily wrapped it all up with an extra scene instead of the set up for more, but let’s hope they get the chance to continue the story they are wanting to tell.
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This is one of those films that is worth checking out if you are fan of anyone in the cast, but also nothing overly memorable in the end. Decide for yourself and check out Trap House available now on digital from Aura Entertainment.