Review: Triple Threat

Mercenaries Tony Jaa and Tiger Chen are a part of a team headed by Michael Jai White and Michael Bisping charged with rescuing a third mercenary played by Scott Adkins, from a Thai jungle prison. However, the duo are betrayed and left for dead by the sociopathic White and thuggish Bisping who get out of Dodge and blow the jungle up with the freed Adkins joining them. Days later at a Thai kickboxing fight, Jaa and Chen are approached by Iko Uwais, whose sister was a casualty of the jungle explosion and blames the duo for her demise. Eventually though, they are able to show him that they are victims of the same enemies: Adkins, White, and Bisping. Meanwhile, said criminals are on their next job: Killing a pretty young philanthropist (Celina Jade) hell-bent on bringing down the illegal drug cartels, which none too pleases the bad guys’ employer. The assassination attempt doesn’t go to plan, with an extraneous member of the mercenary gang killed in the skirmish with Jade’s armed bodyguards. Eventually Jade ends up being helped out by our heroes, though Uwais starts talking to the opposition and getting in league with them. Just what in the hell is he playing at? Asian-American actor Michael Wong has a rather unnecessary cameo as ‘Old Man’.

This 2019 B/C-grade version of “The Expendables” came with a large helping of hype among action movie fans, and subsequently mixed reviews. I’m not sure what the naysayers were expecting this 2019 Jesse V. Johnson (A Brit stunt performer and director of three other Scott Adkins films) flick to be, but it certainly entertained me well enough on its chosen level. In fact, it’s a lot better than the first “Expendables”, and probably on about par with the two sequels. Scripted by Joey O'Bryan (“Full-time Killer” with Andy Lau) and Paul Staheli (“Guardians of the Tomb” which boasts the weird casting of Kelsey Grammer, Kellan Lutz, Bingbing Li, and Shane “Kenny” Jacobson), there’s a large cast to contend with here and it results in some actors getting more to do than others, but even in that regard the film is better than I had expected.

The heroic trio of Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen get a lot more screen time the villains played by Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, and Michael Bisping. However, White’s first scene is full-on sociopathic badassery, and Adkins acquits himself very well as the chief villain seemingly forever in a foul mood. Playing an angry, racist prick suits him surprisingly well. My only complaint would be that I think White’s final fight deserved to be a lot longer and far less one-sided, but with six characters needing to square off, someone’s gonna get the fuzzy end of the lollipop, I suppose. His character is begging to be murder death killed in his every scene, goading Iko Uwais. I’ll never understand why White and Adkins have never truly cracked it into the big time, White in particular seems to have all of the tools necessary for action movie stardom. I just don’t get it. At any rate, alongside Mr. Bisping (a bit of a poor man’s Vinnie Jones, but more than serviceable), they’re a really efficient team of ruthless, violent killers. Star of “The Raid” Iko Uwais is a good choice for the lead here, he’s instantly sympathetic, and seems to be improving with his English too. His character takes on a bit of a “Yojimbo” role where he seems to be playing both sides of the fence, but you’re 98% sure he’s gonna end up fighting for the good guys. Tony Jaa (whose English is progressing even better than Iko Uwais’), getting in some kick-boxing early on as a call-back to his breakout film “Ong-Bak”, actually shows off a bit of a different side here: Goofy. He gets to be comedic and boyishly charming at times, and it’s not only good to see him do something a little different, it also benefits the otherwise very stoic and serious film. Tiger Chen (fluent in English) rounds out the trio, he might remind you a bit of Jet Li in appearance. The man sure can move, I must say. I was less impressed with Celina Jade. Yes, her kidnapping is what kicks things into gear, but she’s no actress, has no charisma, and with a film that is already overflowing with characters, it’s a bit of a drag to have such a dull one taking up screen time. She doesn’t even get involved in the fights, despite there being a couple of other female characters in the film.

Some people have complained about the fight scenes. I must say, aside from White’s final fight, the action scenes really worked for me here. We start with a nice little teaser between Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa before they decide to join forces tentatively. Uwais also gets an early fight in with Tiger Chen that is really nice, too. Overall the fights might not be terribly long but they’re certainly well-staged and well-performed by some of the best in the business. Bisping (who has a face right out of a 30s gangster movie thug) may not be the most interesting fighter on display but he and Tiger Chen have a good, physical rumble. Despite the film’s title, the finale here is closer to a WWE Six-man Tag Team Turmoil Match rather than a triple-threat, with couple of handicap matches thrown in too. Full credit for the scene where Iko Uwais empties his gun into the floor before preparing for martial arts combat with White. I’ve not seen that one before. Former UFC fighter Bisping and Chen pick up where they left off earlier and have a fun mismatched fight where even cinder blocks are employed. White vs. Uwais becomes a triple threat, which is a shame because it has things end rather abruptly. Thankfully, Adkins picks up the slack with the same odds as he, Jaa, and Uwais deliver one helluva penultimate boss fight. The subsequent Adkins vs. Jaa fight is terrific, too. Great fun for fans of this stuff as I am.

Although the kidnapping plot involving Celina Jade isn’t the greatest, this team up of some of the current stars of action cinema is entertaining stuff and very good-looking. One can grumble about how much so and so gets to do etc., but the fights are good, the stars are mostly charismatic and it’s a solid job all-round. Much better than the slightly similar “Skin Trade” at any rate (starring Jaa, White, and Jade), with Tony Jaa and Scott Adkins especially standing out in this one.

Rating: B-