Carol Motsinger, and Shauna Steigerwald

Cincinnati

Cincinnati was more than the production location for "Marauders," a Bruce Willis-helmed action flick that premiered Thursday.

Our city could have been credited with co-authoring the script. After coming here last year, director Stephen C. Miller swapped out a Chicago-based storyline for a Queen City one.

The thriller about a conspiracy revealed by an untraceable group of elite bank robbers centers on a fictional Cincinnati company. It's populated by Cincinnati characters.

It's one of few Cincinnati-shot films in recent years that is actually set in the city. Well, except the part that's set in Mexico. That's actually Arnold's Bar and Grill. But more on that later.

Starting Friday, Esquire Theatre on Clifton's Ludlow Avenue will screen the action flick starring Christopher Meloni of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Dave Bautista of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and Adrian Grenier of "Entourage."

But we already know there will be a sequel of sorts.

Two of the "Marauders" producers are coming back for "repeat business," said Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Film Commission's Kristen Erwin Schlotman. She called their current film one of the "more ambitious" yet, with the "hardest scenes" and "fastest pace."

Let's slow down that pace and take a closer look at the role Cincinnati played:

The Queen City shined. The opening scene set the stage for her. It could have been a commercial for the chamber of commerce. P&G Towers Building peeked down an alleyway. The camera panned over Great American Ball Park, Paul Brown Stadium, the city skyline and the Downtown streets. Oh, and the Roebling Bridge.

Speaking of the Roebling, they clearly loved it as much as we do. At least a half dozen shots featured the historic bridge across the Ohio River. Roebling in the day. In the night. And even a particularly artfully blurred shot of the bridge's lights through a rainy window.

Pop quiz: Show us West Chester Township. The film creators pretty much aced Cincinnati. They even had an accurate map of Downtown streets scribbled on a white board in the FBI war room.

However. After the second robbery, we head to Fourth Street. The Stock Yards Bank & Trust. You can even see the iconic Koch Sporting Goods sign in the background. But the Local 12 reporter character describes from that very scene that Cincinnati Police Department officers are oddly in West Chester. Odd, indeed. Because that's the heart of Downtown.

A couple of investigators soon chase down a lead in "West Chester." Turns out, the duo meet their source for coffee in Nicholson's Tavern & Pub on Walnut Street – also Downtown.

Dixie Terminal earned top billing: The elegant arcade played a huge role in "Marauders." It served as the lobby for the Hubert National Bank. Built in the 1920s, the Fourth Street historic building once served as streetcar terminal. The shots of the architectural details will make you want to check it out for yourself. Fun fact: Dixie Terminal also appeared in 1988's "Rain Man."

The Cincinnati(ish) things they said: A character lived in Indian Hill. Another had planes at Lunken Airport. Oh, and Christopher Meloni's character jokes that he lives in Akron "next to Lebron."

Other things we spotted: Lots of red wine at Nicholson's Tavern & Pub. That "jazz club?" That was next door at Horse & Barrel. In the background of a car driving scene, we spot a Speedway and The Radisson Hotel Cincinnati Riverfront. (You know, the one with the revolving restaurant on top.) O'Malleys In the Alley on Ogden Place. A helicopter flies by Carew Tower. And we even head underground to an old brewery tunnel for a pivotal scene.

We owe the bank. In one of the first scenes, a bank worker explains the history of Hubert National Bank, run by Bruce Willis' character. He says that other cities had tried to lure the company away from Cincinnati, but it "stuck to our roots." He also notes that it "played a role of the revelation of the Queen City."

Aww. You even know us by our nickname. How sweet.

Wait, are we actually in Seattle? It rained. The whole time.

Arnold's moves to Mexico. When the sun does make an appearance, it's because we've moved south of the border. No, not Kentucky – Mexico. But that cute little Mexican bar looks suspiciously like ... the courtyard at Arnold's! Complete with a mariachi band! Maybe this will inspire a new genre night for the bar and restaurant's live music rotation?