(4 minute read)
"It will cripple the world's most violent cartel...This is a robbery"
With a strong cast and an average story, this Netflix Original slides just above 3 out of 5 stars for me and here's why, without real spoilers.
Netflix's Triple Frontier is a solid Friday night movie. You come home from work, tired and hungry, plop down on your couch and turn this movie on. It won't make you think very hard and it won't wow you, but it has just enough to satisfy your night. An action movie set in some pretty cool locations within Colombia and Hawaii, Triple Frontier (o Tres Fronteras) is about a group of US Special Forces veterans that unite to take down a drug cartel by themselves.
You can probably guess when you hear the phrase, "rich drug cartel", why these men would risk their lives to invade a foreign country ($), but this motivator wasn't enough for some. Some top critics (à la Rotten Tomatoes) thought that the script didn't give us enough to connect with these characters in a meaningful way that would have made us care more about their well-being.
Even though most of the film follows their adventures, you're never really at the edge of your seat, fearing for their lives, as you may have felt during Saving Private Ryan (1998). The bad guys in this movie don't scare you as much as they should.
Sure it may be hard to connect with ex-special forces shooting bad guys for money, but for me the film's weakest point was the absence of personality beyond military. Where did they come from? What were some of their war stories together, in detail? Most of the movie consists of them shouting at each other, but there were a few brotherhood moments that were worth the watch.
I did say the movie leaves you satisfied, and I cannot finish without saying that the acting really carried this show. Oscar Isaacs had an Oscar-nominating performance while his costars did a hell of a job keeping up. Ben Affleck gave off some Batman vibes throughout the film with his grumpy, alpha-male demeanor, which was pretty cool.
I also thought actress Adria Arjona did a nice job in setting the tone of the film by making us feel constantly in danger and alert of what would happen next. Her character was probably the most relatable one after all since she plays a normal person with real motives and practical thoughts. I almost felt that this movie could have pivoted more towards her life story, which seemed to be more mysterious and compelling than the lives of our Special Forces characters. Yeah I do think that could have been a more meaningful story to tell.
So if you're bored and looking for some action with good acting, this is a good pick-me-up for tonight if you have time. 😃
"It will cripple the world's most violent cartel...This is a robbery"
With a strong cast and an average story, this Netflix Original slides just above 3 out of 5 stars for me and here's why, without real spoilers.
You can probably guess when you hear the phrase, "rich drug cartel", why these men would risk their lives to invade a foreign country ($), but this motivator wasn't enough for some. Some top critics (à la Rotten Tomatoes) thought that the script didn't give us enough to connect with these characters in a meaningful way that would have made us care more about their well-being.
Even though most of the film follows their adventures, you're never really at the edge of your seat, fearing for their lives, as you may have felt during Saving Private Ryan (1998). The bad guys in this movie don't scare you as much as they should.
Sure it may be hard to connect with ex-special forces shooting bad guys for money, but for me the film's weakest point was the absence of personality beyond military. Where did they come from? What were some of their war stories together, in detail? Most of the movie consists of them shouting at each other, but there were a few brotherhood moments that were worth the watch.
I did say the movie leaves you satisfied, and I cannot finish without saying that the acting really carried this show. Oscar Isaacs had an Oscar-nominating performance while his costars did a hell of a job keeping up. Ben Affleck gave off some Batman vibes throughout the film with his grumpy, alpha-male demeanor, which was pretty cool.
I also thought actress Adria Arjona did a nice job in setting the tone of the film by making us feel constantly in danger and alert of what would happen next. Her character was probably the most relatable one after all since she plays a normal person with real motives and practical thoughts. I almost felt that this movie could have pivoted more towards her life story, which seemed to be more mysterious and compelling than the lives of our Special Forces characters. Yeah I do think that could have been a more meaningful story to tell.
So if you're bored and looking for some action with good acting, this is a good pick-me-up for tonight if you have time. 😃