Brenton Thwaites has a been a busy man in the two years since he left Summer Bay. In addition to royal duties in Maleficent earlier this year, he will pop up in Gods Of Egypt after leading The Signal for William Eubank (his follow up to the acclaimed Love), as well stealing Julius Avery's home grown thriller Son Of A Gun.

Thwaites stars opposite Ewan McGregor though to be fair, it's McGregor in support since Thwaites, both in terms of character and performance, holds the film together.

This is a fairly routine telling of a youngster sucked into a life of crime only to get the jump on his handlers, kiss the girl and win the day. Think Two Hands with a helicopter. Son Of A Gun opens with a sweaty, violent bang as JR (Thwaites) is hauled to jail and befriended by Brendan (McGregor), an older inmate who trades protection for loyalty.

Avery creates a dark, claustrophobic and quite frightening atmosphere as friendships are forged amid startling violence. It soon becomes clear that JR is the key to Brendan's plans which include a daring escape and an even more daring raid on a Kalgoorlie gold mine. Enter a gang lord, his psychopathic nephew and a tart with heart - you can see where this is going.

Sun Of A Gun is at its balls-out best in the first act. But as the story opens out, Avery, who co-wrote the screenplay with John Collee (Happy Feet), looses a lot of the thematic intensity as JR's story is whittled down to elaborate robberies, car chases and double-crosses. It becomes less about the creation of a criminal, more about the crime and is a lot less interesting for it. An overplayed chess analogy doesn't help.

McGregor leads an agreeable support cast although Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) is distractingly off beat as the boy's love interest. Production is polished.

Despite diminishing returns, Son Of A Gun is still a chunky little movie for fans of Paul Walker. It's one that, rather like Two Hands before it, could prove to be the launchpad for a new Australian sensation.

// COLIN FRASER

Previewed at Roadshow Theatrette, Sydney on 26 June 2014