WFG RATING: A-

Saban Films presents a Convergence Entertainment Group production in association with Triumphant Pictures. Directed by IVES. Produced by Cecil Chambers, IVES, and Joel Cohen. Written by Chris Sivertson; based on characters created by Dipo Oseni and Doug Richardson. Cinematography by Alejandro Lalinde. Edited by Marc Fusco.

Stars John Travolta, Gina Gershon, Lukas Haas, Quavo, Natali Yura, Swen Temmel, Danny Pardo, Kelly Greyson, Noel G, Demi Castro, Korrina Rico, Joel Cohen, Daniel Louis Rivas, and Abigail Spear.

It’s time to roll the dice again as the gang from Cash Out reunite for this sequel, well, all but one anyway as Kristen Davis is replaced by Gina Gershon.

After successfully pulling off a major bank heist stealing from crime czar Salazar, Mason Goddard and his crew are happily living off the grid. As they are about to celebrate the wedding of former bank manager Georgios Caras and Gooding’s cohort Link, the party is crashed by a band of armed goons who kidnap Mason’s girlfriend, ex-FBI agent Amelia Decker. Mason soon learns his past has come back to haunt him.

Abel Salazar, the man Mason robbed from, is responsible for kidnapping Amelia. While at first, Mason thinks Salazar wants revenge, the crime czar has another idea. He wants Mason to infiltrate the workings of a rival czar named Zade. Zade uses the world of gambling as a front for his criminal activity. The group goes into action, but soon learn they may be in for something very dangerous. Something worse than they ever experienced, as they also must contend with the FBI is on their backs. 

In 2024, John Travolta starred in the film Cash Out, directed by the singularly named IVES (aka Randall Emmett), and it was quite a fun heist film that may have had a few flaws but were saved by the likes of Travolta and former child star Lukas Haas giving a bit of comic relief as Travolta’s mischievous brother. No one would have thought there would be a sequel, but here we are and thanks to Chris Sivertson’s script, the sequel is excellent and a step up from the first film.

Many of the core cast return. However, Kristen Davis is replaced as Decker by Gina Gershon and she does a great job. If Davis had stuck to the role, it still would have been great. Both Davis in the original and Gershon here bring a sense of fire to the role of Decker. As for Travolta, he once again amps up the charm as gang leader Mason with Haas returning as Shawn, who acts a bit more mature. Add to the mix the returning Quavo as Anton and Natali Yura as Link. At first a neutral character in the original, Swen Temmel returns to the role of Caras, now Link’s love interest.

There are two core villains of the film. The first is Danny Pardo’s Salazar, the man who Mason and his gang successfully robbed in the first film. However, there is a secondary character in Zade, played by Demi Castro, who invites an undercover Mason to join him in a high stakes card game. As Mason and the crew come closer to trying to rob Zade for Salazar, there are quite some twists in the story that Sivertson wisely puts in at the right time and makes it more exciting to see as the film goes on. One twist really puts a wrench in things and adds some shock value but it works very well. 

High Rollers is a bit superior to Cash Out. All the minimal flaws from the original are thrown out with Chris Sivertson’s script running smoothly and adding some twists that make the film more exciting. Definitely can be seen as both a sequel and a standalone.

The film will be released in theaters, VOD, and Digital on March 14.