Despite positioning itself as a simple throwback action B-movie, _Standoff_ is actually much more evolved than it appears. Firstly, the three core characters are all brilliantly portrayed, even "Bird" who is played by a child actor was phenomenal. A bad performance from even one of these three would have brought the whole thing crashing down, thankfully all of them are dedicated to their respective roles. Even Lawrence Fishburne, whom I was worried would just be hear to take an easy paycheque and phone it in hard wound up actually giving the best I've seen from him in years. There are a couple of lulls in the middle of the piece, and a handful of underdeveloped side-plots. But it overall, and especially the climax, made _Standoff_ a surprise hit for 2016. _Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go._