This week Netflix has released their highly anticipated action film Triple Frontier. With an ensemble cast that consists of Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal and Garrett Hedlund. Directed by J.C. Chandor and co-written by Mark Boal (Hurt Locker) the story tells of a team of former military ops personnel who assemble to pull off one last job. Basically, to steal a load of money from a drug lord in South America.
Santiago “Pope” Garcia (Isaac) decides to corral the crew of the unsung heroes back together after he catches wind that a drug lord named “Lorea” is hiding over $75 million in a desolate jungle town. Rounding up all the former ex-Special Forces buddies gives us a brief glimpse of what their lives have become. Tom “Redfly” Davis (Affleck) is a divorced dad struggling to sell condos. Francisco “Catfish” Morales (Pascal) has lost his pilots license due to a recent drug bust. William “Ironhead” Miller (Hunnam) is giving speeches to recruits and his brother Ben Miller (not cool enough for a nickname) is trying to make it into the MMA world. Eventually with enough persuading and a handful of bro hugs, all of them accept the mission.
To say that the pacing in the film is unbearably tedious is an understatement. There are documentaries about sloths that move faster (Dad joke of the day). By the time Garcia convinces the men to move on the opportunity, you are itching to see some bullets fly. Even with their justifiable act of theft, these Robin Hoods are spread too thin. With a cast so top heavy, it’s difficult to stand out, especially when most of the dialogue shouted is “Watch out”, and “Got one!” Once the action unfolds, you simply couldn’t care less if they make out with the loot or not.
That being said, most of the action scenes are captured with thrilling angles and structured in tension. A really cool helicopter crash in the jungle is the kind of scene that this film needed more of. Incidents that hinder the men along their journey show us what kind of people they truly are. Action drama movies such as Speed and Hurt Locker provide us with heart pounding “gut check” moments, Triple Frontier just feels like a generic gut punch…
