"Triple 9" Review
“Triple 9” is an adrenaline rush from start to ten minutes from the finish! That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that this cop procedural, heist film with an all-star cast fell short of a homerun.
The film starts off at the beginning of a heist by a five man crew comprised of cops and former military: Michael Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie), Russell Welch (Norman Reedus), Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul), and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.). By all means, it’s not a new way of kicking off a film, but the performances of the cast draw you in to their situation. As things take an unexpected turn, they have to adapt, showing their skills and technical precision.
We soon learn that Atwood has ties to the Russian mob in the form of his son’s mother Elena (Gal Gadot). Elena’s sister, Irina (Kate Winslet), runs the mob outfit while her husband is in prison. Irina has ice in her veins. She lures Atwood in for one more heist by hurting someone close to him and insinuating it could happen to his son. Atwood feels that the only way to pull off the heist is to create a 999, cop code for “officer down”, which will draw out all the cops in the city in response. Enter Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), Belmont’s new partner, and just the mark they need.
The film has a stellar cast, who truly do great work with the script they were provided. Director John Hillcoat immerses the viewer in the streets of Atlanta and creates a steady tension and sense of urgency throughout the film. The settings are gritty, the gang members don’t seem to be comprised of actors, and that realism makes the film that much more suspenseful.
“Triple 9” suffers from two big issues: the plot is overly complicated, and the film has no likeable characters except for Affleck’s Allen. It’s like watching three card monte; there are so many storylines to follow that if you check a text message in the midst of the film you may be confused as to what’s going on. Everyone is flawed and dirty accept Allen. Which makes it hard to root for any of the main characters.
It’s a shame that all the drama and tension leads up to an unsatisfying ending. It feels as though writer Matt Cook had to finish the film under deadline and decided to try to wrap things up quickly and cut off loose ends. But in a film where everyone’s dirty, a nicely tied ribbon on the end just doesn’t make sense or do the film and its cast justice.
Rating: C
"Insurgent" Review
Of the many words that come to mind when I think of “Insurgent”, uncomfortable is the one I just can’t shake. The actors look uncomfortable in their wardrobe and performances. The fact that teenagers act like adults and adults like idiots is uncomfortable. More than anything, I was uncomfortable in my chair suffering through the 119 minute running time waiting for the film to be over.
Shailene Woodley reprises her role in the follow up to "Divergent" as Tris Pryor, a young girl who happens to be different in a world where everyone sticks to the tribal stereotype they’ve been tested into. It’s easy to pick out the Divergents in the film, just look for the actors who wear cool clothes and walk with a little swag. Everyone else looks uncomfortable in their wardrobe, and has a robot-like presence (no matter what faction, outside of Divergents and maybe the Factionless).
Due to her ability to be all types, Tris is labeled a Divergent. In fact, she’s The Divergent of all Divergents. Even though she’s “powerful”, her past won’t allow her to move forward. For most of the movie we’re forced to watch Tris lash out at others and doubt herself because of the self-imposed emotional load she carries around. She can’t forgive herself for the deaths that she has caused by her own hand or by association with her.
In the meantime, Jeanine (Kate Winslet) is hunting down Divergents and testing them to the point of death in an effort to open a mysterious box. This box has a message in it from the founders of their society, and only a powerful Divergent can open it. Four (Theo James) reunites with a long lost relative who just may help them turn the tide in the war against Erudite.
The cast performances in this film are just awful. While most of the main characters have given us wonderful performances in other films, they barely showed up for this one. Shailene Woodley plays an excellent fragile but strong character in “The Fault in Our Stars”, but the same magic doesn’t work in “Insurgent”. You never quite believe her as an action star, her screams are like nails on chalkboard (there is a lot of chalkboard throughout this movie) and she . Miles Teller was awesome in “Whiplash”, but doesn’t do more than recite his lines in this film. Kate Winslet brings nothing new to her role as well. The list goes on.
Will Jeanine get the box open? Will Tris forgive herself? Who cares?! If the movie gives us no reason to be invested in the characters and stakes, why should we care? This series already started out rocky, and this installment just cements the rockslide of cookie cut teen dystopia that we’re being forced to swallow. Don’t waste your money this weekend, especially in 3D or IMAX. If only the boatload of cash this film is going to see this weekend sunk with the series.
Rating: D