I figured, how could you go wrong with Ben Affleck and Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam in leading roles, and Narco's Pedro Pascal thrown in there, too? I saw Triple Frontier on Netflix last night and discovered I couldn't. Not just the acting was excellent, and that includes Oscar Isaac and Garrett Hedlund, whom I haven't seen before, but the movie is one of best heist movies I've seen in years. Best in terms of originality, action, sharp repartee, and heart.
The beginning was the most standard. Five commandos, most of them semi-retired, get together to rob a drug lord in Colombia of his tons of money. One guy pulls the rest together, kicking and screaming that they don't want back in the game. We've seen that before, but story picks up in in the heist, when they find the drug lord's bank is literally his house, and he literally has a ton of money there or more. I was watching too intently to recall the exact numbers (I'm not even sure what the "Triple" refers to in the title), but the money's much more than they expected, and makes their escape literally very heavy lifting.
The escape is the gem of the movie. I won't spoil it for you and tell you specifically what happens, but there are surprises galore, not all of them happy by any means, with escape vehicles ranging from helicopter to mules, against some fabulous Andes scenery (so striking I wish I'd seen this in a theater). In a way, Triple Threat is not only a heist movie, but a sequel to Narcos, in a fictional setting.
By the way, there's room for a sequel, just saying. Check out Triple Frontier and enjoy.
