As soon as Triple 9 started, everything was screaming out that this was like the start to a video game; a group of tough guys talking about the robbery in the back of a van along with an element of dis-trust between one another. In a smooth and organised fashion, they run into a bank, fire warning shots and then the action kicks off.

The line-up for this movie is simply incredible and very varied, including; Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Kate Winslet and a touch of Woody Harrelson. A movie with this scale of talent would normally have academy awards sniffing all over it, but Triple 9 was a 'very average' movie. There were moments of intensity and moments of excitement, but it really didn’t have anything magical within it, nothing that stood out as really impressive or noteworthy. It ticked the boxes of cliche over and over again. If anything, it was like watching a game of Grand Theft Auto, but with famous voice overs.

The story taking place is about a group of guys - ex-military, ex-cops and corrupt cops - who agree to carry out a robbery for Russian Mafia boss, Irina Vlaslov (Kate Winslet). Despite a slight hiccup during the robbery, they pull it off. The leader and the ideas man, Terrell Tompkins (Chiwetel Ejiofor) go to Irina to collect his agreed winnings for the job, but gets stitched up into carrying out another robbery. This one is a lot more complex and requires more time to carry it out before the police arrive. The group have an idea to trigger, what the police call, 'a triple nine call out', meaning a cop has been seriously injured or died. This would result in every police unit in the city to usually converge there, giving the crew more time to carry out the robbery as they are the lesser priority.

We see many teasers, many close calls to the triple nine call out, I would guess in an attempt to build the suspense and build expectations, but instead resulted in a disappointing end. Triple 9 was generally an easy to predict and generated a lot of false hope. If it wasn’t for the star-studded line up, this would be the kind of movie that could be found in the bargain bin at the supermarket within a couple of months of release.

Although the movie held potential and could have easily been a winner in everyone’s books, the writing was really disappointing. It was very heartless; we never had an opportunity to build up a relationship with the characters before we then saw them in the dramatic situations and close calls. Every death in the movie should have been shocking and terrifying, however we were focussed on the action at the wrong times.

Overall, Triple 9 was a very average movie and did not utilise the full potential of the incredibly talented cast.