Crime 101 deserves more credit than it is likely to receive in the crowded marketplace of action releases. Layton, whose earlier work already showed a talent for staging real-world systems with narrative finesse, orchestrates this ensemble with cleverness and restraint, delivering a film that is both satisfyingly watchable and formally distinctive. It is a rare genre piece in which the camera and the soundtrack do not merely accompany the thrill—they are the thrill.
