“John Wick 4” currently combines everything that stands for hard and adrenaline-charged action cinema with a powerful gunfight, fast car rides and a lot of blood. “Triple 9”, a 2016 police thriller, can easily keep up in that regard. The movie is currently available for subscription on both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
This is what Triple 9 is all about
Life in Atlanta couldn’t be more shocking. Either criminal gangs or the Russian mafia led by Irina Vlaslov (Kate Winslet) make life miserable for the people. Not to mention the dirty cops who work with the crime syndicate. Among them is Michael (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who one day gets into trouble with the mafia boss. To save himself, but also his family and partner, he decides to please the powerful woman and commit a delicate bank robbery.
The corrupt gang’s plan includes a triple 9 – the murder of a police officer to divert all available troops from the robbery. Meanwhile, young and inexperienced cop Chris (Casey Affleck) tries to stop the criminals and prevent the robbery. He is aided by his uncle Jeffrey (Woody Harrelson), who pursues his own agenda.
Action with some of today’s biggest stars
“Triple 9” has a gigantic array of stars to offer. Bringing together the stars of some of today’s biggest movie franchises, the illustrious cast is its greatest strength: Kate Winslet (Avatar – The Way of Water), Marvel stars Anthony Mackie (The First Avenger: Civil War) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange) and Wonder Woman Gal Gadot as the mob boss’s sister are more than just a promise.
Because a star team alone is certainly no guarantee for quality (see recently “Red Notice”), but here the cast convinces across the board, also because their characters don’t come across as bad – on the contrary. Even a fringe character, Woody Harrelson, is on top form, with Casey Affleck stealing the show, especially towards the end.
A perfect balance between action and suspense
The police thriller clearly benefits from the fact that the robbery only forms the story frame. Themes such as loyalty and abuse of power, as well as some characters’ tiredness of living in such an unscrupulous world, keep coming up and create a well-rounded atmosphere. “Triple 9” is anything but a typical noise-boom-bang cinema, which becomes especially clear towards the end.
Only then does a new tension arise, which largely suppresses the action. The question that arises as to whether the good cops can fit the puzzle pieces together to catch the bad guys in their own ranks rounds off the film perfectly.
In terms of staging, the action scenes can be seen and heard, which with the violent sound design are sometimes reminiscent of the classic action thriller “Heat”. With the fast-paced car rides, what feels like hundreds of guns and mass firefights, as well as the very different types of cops, “Triple 9” is a top-notch cop thriller.