Triple 9

So I'm realizing this has become a thing. A year of movies happens and there are a list of movies I wanted to see. There are those movies that are higher on the list that I definitely see in theaters. Then there are the films that go straight to streaming services in the same year and I see them pretty quickly too. Then there's movies like Triple 9 where I wanted to see it when it came out in theaters, never made it out, and I end up catching up on these films the following year.

The movie begins with a heist being carried out by a team led by Michael Atwood (played by Chiwetel Ejifor) He is a career criminal and is supported by his friend Russell (played by Norman Reedus), Russell's brother Gabe (played by Aaron Paul) and two corrupt cops, Marcus and Franco (played by Anthony Mackie and Clifton Collins respectively). They pull off a job for the wife of a Russian mobster (played by Kate Winslet) but she pulls them in to do one more job and threaten their lives if they choose not to. Their plan is to spark a 999 police code which means an officer is down in order to distract the police away from the heist. And in essence, that's the movie.

Casey Affleck plays the partner of Anthony Mackie's character. He's a new cop but he's a straight laced one. Woody Harrelson plays the uncle of Casey Affleck's character and he's also a cop. And then Gal Gadot plays the sister of Kate Winslet's character and Chiwetel Ejifor's character's ex-wife who plays a part in the whole criminal organization.

The first thing to say about this film is that when there is action, the action is good. There are a couple of heist scenes in this film and they are pretty good scenes as a matter of fact. I enjoyed the movie a lot when there was action on screen and I was wondering if these heists were going to go down the way they thought they were going to.

On top of that, you have a really good cast. This is a pretty stacked cast with some really power house actors and actresses. I think if I had to choose a standout it would probably be Casey Affleck and Anthony Mackie. I was the most invested in their story and their relationship throughout the film and that was supplemented by their performances.

I by no means think anybody gave a bad performance in this film.

The biggest issue I have with the film is when I feel like a lot is happening and yet nothing is happening at all. And this mainly happens because there are so many characters and they're trying to give justice to every one of them and then they end up not giving justice to any of them.

Like I said, Casey Affleck and Anthony Mackie give pretty good performances because there is that duality that Anthony Mackie brings to it of being a corrupt cop. And again, since both these actors are really good, I am interested in their character.

But then we have Chiwetel Ejifor's story with his son, and then you've got Aaron Paul and his shitty situation, and then you've got Woody Harrelson investigating the heists that have happened with a really interesting cameo by Michael K Williams. But overall, a lot of stories are happening and yet I had moments where I just had to ask, what the hell is happening?

It's interesting because this movie reminded me a lot of the 2nd season of True Detective that nobody really liked (I was gonna do a review on that a while ago now that I think about it...). The film was centered around the subject matter of bank heists, organized crime, and police corruption.

I actually think that this movie could probably have made for a better HBO TV show than a movie because I do want to see what's the deal with Woody Harrellson and the conversations he has with Michael K Williams in Drag. I do want to see Chiwetel Ejifor deal with his mobster in-laws and the balance between taking care of his son and living a life of crime.

Hell, Kate Winslet and her role as the wife of a Russian mobster is actually really interesting and could make for a Netflix series on its own.

And this is not to say I didn't enjoy the movie. I just thought that it had points where it was pretty boring and just didn't go anywhere. The story was so spread out among a really strong cast that it wasn't able to really center in on the things it needed to and in total, the movie just didn't really live up to my expectations.

I was really hoping that this movie was gonna be good. I don't think there are enough good crime thrillers these days and I don't think that enough of them do Heat level bank heists. Triple 9 doesn't even come close, but there were a lot of good elements about the film that I enjoyed. The action was good. I'm not going to say anybody in this film did a bad job, I just think they were under utilized.

I think this probably should have been a TV show or a third season of True Detective. But as is, it's an alright movie. Nothing spectacular but nothing horrible as well. Just meh.

But those are my thoughts on Triple 9. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twtter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. Triple 9 just reminded me of True Detective and reminded me of the opening number. Enjoy!