TRIPLE THREAT (2019)
Just look at this cast Iko Uwais (The Raid, Beyond Skyline, The Night Comes For Us), Tony Jaa (Ong Bak, The Protector, Skin Trade), Scott Adkins (The Debt Collector, Incoming, Abduction), Michael Jai White (Rogue Hostage, The Dark Knight, Assault on VA-33) and Celina Jade (The Man With The Iron Fists, Wolf Warrior 2). That’s just the top-billed. Add in director Jesse V. Johnson (The Mercenary, Hell Hath No Fury) and you see why I had to watch Triple Threat right away.
Payu (Tony Jaa) and Long Fei (Tiger Hu Chen, Man of Ti Chi) are guns for hire. They’re currently on what they think is a humanitarian mission to rescue hostages. But the only thing this group of killers wants to rescue is their leader Collins (Scott Adkins) who is being held at an MI-6 black site. In the mayhem, Jaka’s (Iko Uwais) wife takes a bullet and dies in his arms.
Once Jaka tracks down Payu and Long Fei and learns the truth, the three join forces to get revenge. By now, Collins and his crew have been hired to kill Xian (Celina Jade) an heiress who intends to donate a fortune to combating the local cartels.
Triple Threat is an insane collection of action scenes that would have been a featured release from Cannon Films back in the day. It doesn’t waste any time, the bullets are flying by the five-minute mark and it rarely stops after that. Fights, shootouts, chase scenes, it pretty much never stops for the film’s fast 95 minute running time.
Speaking of fights, the incredible cast, which also includes former UFC champion Michael Bisping (xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Never Back Down: Revolt) and JeeJa Yanin (Chocolate, Red Phoenix), means there’s all manner of martial arts styles on display. And there are plenty of well-choreographed brawls to display them in. Everyone gets a chance to show off their moves.
The final act features an impressive series of brawls leading to an incredible showdown between Jaa and Adkins. Adkins is once again playing the villain here and he’s excellent at it. These kinds of roles may be his best bet for getting into larger budget productions.
On the downside, the plot is thin to the point of being invisible at times. Also, Uwais and Yanin both deserved more screen time, especially given how good the fight between them turns out. But overall Triple Threat is one of the better recent action films and one of the best with a hybrid Eastern/Western cast in a long time.
Triple Threat is available on VOD from WellGo USA with Blu Ray and DVDs out on May 14th.