Explosive!
Summary
Although it goes on for about 25 minutes too long Triple Frontier is still a first rate actioner with a cast at the top of their game and plenty tension to chew on. Check it out next week when it hits Netflix.
Plot: Loyalties are tested when five former special forces operatives reunite to steal a drug lord’s fortune, unleashing a chain of unintended consequences.
Review: Batman, Jaxx from Sons of Anarchy, Poe Dameron, the cool cop from Narcos and the Tron guy walk into a bar… there’s a punch line here that I haven’t quite nailed yet BUT I’ll get it.This is a guy movie. Let me just get this out of the way. It’s Call of Duty wrapped up in a drug cartel, action crime thriller. Filled with a phenomenal cast, I had incredibly high expectations walking into this and got the privilege of seeing a week early on the big screen.
The plot is straight forward – former Navy Seals, struggling to make ends meet since retiring, band together to rob a drug cartel.
It’s a simple and great premise and the first hour and 30 mins that make this a great action movie. Affleck, Isaac & the rest of the supporting cast have incredibly good chemistry together and play off one another really well.
Each character is given a chance to shine, if even for five minutes or so and you begin to understand not only where they’ve come from as a team, but why they still share a special bond and why they want to “get the band back together for one last show”. The landscapes of South America are beautifully shot and the action bodes well when using the vast jungle landscapes and I found myself thoroughly invested when the action popped off.
Methodically paced & incredibly tense for a good period of the second act, director J.C. Chandor does a great job at creating tension when there needs to be. At points I was even saying a few things out loud regarding decisions made by the characters. You’re rooting for these guys to pull this off, because they are deserving of it.
Have you ever watched a movie though, where you say “Okay. This is a good end to it. Wrap it up here.” Then it drags… And drags. And it drags…Well this is one of those movies, and because of that one factor, this went from being an excellent action movie to an above par action movie. I looked into why this may have happened and it appears this is an adaptation of a novel. In any case, I think the last 25 minutes of this one may have been better left to the imagination and not the screen, as it ends in a lackluster way in comparison to all the well done action previously.
I look forward to more like this from Netflix, who continually draw in big names for their projects and impress me with their ability to allow filmmakers to make the films they want, not what appeals to the theatre going audience. That being said, this kind of movie landed in the right place. Next weekend when this premieres on the service, throw it on.
Fellas, you’ll be entertained.
Ladies, you’ll have so much muscular eye candy to look at , that you won’t mind the blood and action.