There are familiar themes in this home invasion movie that can be summed up in a few quotes; that were straight from the trailer no less.
"I will do anything to protect my kids."
"I'm just a Mom. You haven't a clue what I'm capable of."
"You broke into the wrong house."
That pretty much tells you what to expect from this movie right?
Now, before you write this off as a piece of derivative work that you can live without, I should mention that this is an entertainment movie to watch nonetheless. The simplicity of the premise, being a Mom doing whatever she can to save her kids from these strangers that broke into the home, is exciting enough. It's the whole cat and mouse game, plus the whole "who has the upper hand now" fun. That's essentially what you are watching this movie for.
The reliably capable action thriller direction by James McTeigue is what keeps the momentum going throughout the movie, and the believability of Gabriel Union's character Shaun is what also makes this all work. There are many moments where you will either positively acknowledge how clever Shaun is, or roll your eyes at some of the plot conveniences that happen. The antagonists are also either written well enough to give them interesting personalities, or the writing overplays the personalities to caricature levels of cliches. I thankfully didn't find the kids annoying, so there's that.
With "Breaking In," you know exactly what you are getting from watching this movie, or whether this is something you want to see, and that's very much appreciated. It's so straightforward in what it is, that there really isn't anything else I should say about it that isn't already obvious. The movie is serviceable entertainment, and that's that.
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