Film Review: Triple 9

"To Survive Out Here You Gotta Out-Monster The Monster..."

Of all the epic crime dramas to have graced our screens over the course of the past few decades or so, Michael Mann's Heat is the top drawer example, a film in which many, including Mann himself, have taken note from and subsequently strived to duplicate in usually unspectacular fashion with only a few breaking the mould and stepping out from the shadow of the perfect combination of style and substance Mann's masterpiece undoubtedly revels in. In the case of Triple 9 therefore, although not the perfect companion piece to Heat, John Hillcoat, director of the desolate survival thriller The Road, and the violent crime drama Lawless, has at least attempted to create something that adheres to the stylistic nature of Mann's classic albeit with a dark, twisted and overly gritty core, calling in a A-List cast as it goes. Although Triple 9 carries much more substance than that of the many generic action films released recently, it is a film that plays inevitably and undeniably second fiddle to the mastery of Mann's tour de force, whilst having a much darker and depressing feel, one which may leave viewers with a sense of unwitting desperation.

The storyline, focusing on deception and blackmail between a group of experienced thieves and the Russian Mafia, headed up in sheer scene-chewing fashion by Kate Winslet, is one that is primarily left slightly to the sidelines, with the undercurrent of the groups plan to engage a "Triple 9", a scenario of a downed officer, in order to successfully complete a heist and in turn. release them from their dealings with the Mafia, a secondary outfit, providing a support and a reason for the main aim of the movie; to create the most intense action sequences possible. Although the supposed lack of substance leads to an array of questioning after sitting down and actually thinking about it. Triple 9 can be excused for effectively managing to do what it really desires, with the action set-piece in the film being directed and shot in a grit-filled sense of realism that harks back to the bank heist in Heat, a scene that has been regarded by many as the most realistic action set-piece ever captured on film. Indeed not for everyone, with on-screen violence being ramped up rather unnecessarily, Triple 9 benefits from a fantastic ensemble cast, featuring Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aaron Paul and straight from The Walking Dead, Norman Reedus, all of whom impress, yet the film falls short of the sense of mastery others before it have managed to create resulting in a film that is solely for the set pieces, not for the bigger picture. 

Overall Score: 8/10