Triple 9 (2016) REVIEW

Triple 9 (2016)

Triple 9 (2016) Last night I saw this movie, having seen the trailer months ago, I still didn't anything about the plot from it. The film is literally overloaded with famous faces, from the blockbuster names (Kate Winslet, Anthony Mackie, Chiwetel Ejiofor) to the cult heroes (Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus). 

Triple 9 is a pretty well drawn out heist movie, with some interesting characters, despite the fact some are not given much to do. This is a tale of underground criminals and dodgy cops, with the lines blurring and tension mounting. Our main criminal gang have two police men hidden in the ranks who midnight as the bank robbers. 

The tension raises when they get their next task and need to raise a Triple 9 alarm (code for officer down) as a distraction for their biggest heist yet. Unfortunately for Casey Affleck, he's the officer they plan to shoot down. The film is beautifully shot, especially the opening scene with a money bag and a whole lot of red dye gas. 

However it feels at times like this is some great set pieces strung together. Aaron Paul is given a role of a drug addict which feels very over familiar (Jesse Pinkman, anyone?) I wanted to see more about his past, his motivations as I know he has the chops to do it, but the script doesn't allow him to grow. Anthony Mackie and Casey Affleck shine the brightest with their roles as literal good cop and bad cop. 

Affleck is especially likeable and has a vulnerability that wins you over pretty fast. As for Winslet, she is all kinds of OTT. Russian accent. Red boots. Hoop earrings. She is interesting but never really as menacing as the film wants her to be. Woody Harrleson plays another dodgy cop much like in True Detective but as always, he owns every scene. I can't help but feel there are too many big names maybe and not enough story line to spread between them. 

The film is still great at building tension, the last 20 minutes are nail biting to say the least. Overall an entertaining, if flawed movie, better than your average heist though. 6/10