Triple 9 – Should have been better

Sometimes, you see a film advertised and you think ’How can this possibly fail?’ Then, upon sitting through it, you wonder how the film-makers managed to make something that looked so awesome come across as so mediocre. And that’s what ‘Triple 9’ is – mediocre.  It’s not bad.  I didn’t hate it.  I just thought that, judging by the acting talent on display, that it should have been so much more special than what it actually was.

It’s about a squad of ‘dirty’ cops who, along with upholding the bits of the law that suit them, also help criminals rob banks.  But, somewhere along the way they seemed to forget that criminals – being criminals – can’t always be trusted to uphold their side of a bargain.  Naturally, the gang they’re working for want a little more than was originally offered and conflict arises.

The reason Triple 9 looked so good was the cast of characters – anything with Norman Reedus (or ‘Daryl’ from The Walking Dead) and Aaron Paul (or ‘Jessie’ from Breaking Bad) can’t be all bad, can it?  Well, like I say, it’s not all bad, it’s just pretty forgettable.  Apart from one scene that occurred around the middle of the film where the cops storm a drugs den – that’s pretty intense and comes across as well researched as to how real police would undertake such an operation.  However, it’s been about a week since I watched Triple 9 and, apart from that and the meaning of the phrase ‘Triple 9’ itself, there really isn’t that much I can remember about it.  Or rather than the actors I really wanted to see in the film aren’t in it as much as I’d hoped and, where they were, they were criminally underused.

I know I’m being harsh.  But it’s just if you’ve seen as many ‘cops and robbers’ movies as I have over the years then you really need something very different to set one apart.  And this one just didn’t have what I was looking for.  Yes, it’s stylish and well-directed, plus you have the acting talent on offer and, if you’re looking for realism then you’ll find a fair amount of violence here.  However, in the course of film history, I’m guessing that this will just be written off as yet another cops and robbers movie.  Pity.

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights