Heists, dirty cops, shifting loyalties, betrayal, constant
tension, the Russian mob, more bullets than you can possibly count, copious
explosions, an incredible cast, and the guy who directed both The
Road and The Proposition. Ask me what I want in a
movie and I’ll likely read off most of the things I just listed, all of which
figure prominently in director John Hillcoat’s new crime film, Triple
9. All of the pieces are in place, and though this is a solid, grim offering,
one that I enjoyed well enough, Triple 9 never offers any
surprises and watches like scraps of other crime movies stitched together in
ways that don’t always fit. There are shades of Heat,
Sicario, Training Day, and more, but the
end result is a scattered, if exciting, dark, and passable thriller.
“Need For Speed” has set itself up as an homage to badass
low-budget car movies from the 1970s, even going so far as to explicitly evoke
that image in the marketing. And the action is definitely more “Vanishing
Point” than “Fast and Furious.” Hell, there’s even an early scene where the
main character, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) and his crew watch Steve McQueen
tear around San Francisco in “Bullet” at a local drive-in theater. You know
right away what aesthetic they’re going after. This isn’t intended as a knock
on the Vin Diesel-centric franchise, those films have been fun—especially the
last two—but this is a throwback different time, with a stoic, man-of-few-words
hero, and is more about American muscle and Italian rarities than it is about
supped up imports with gaudy paint jobs and low-profile tires. Even though
“Need For Speed” is 40 minutes too long, and everything that’s not driving is
utter garbage, this is still a reasonably good time.
