If you are planning to watch this flick be advised to watch it without being interrupted then you will enjoy this dark thriller. It all starts rather easy with a heist at a bank but once they have to do another job things go wrong.

From there on it's corruption galore. With the excellent cast it do delivers a superb bloody flick. And yes, some main actors do die quickly in this flick and even as Aaron Paul (Gabe) is doing what he's best in, a drug-fiend it is well done.

Top cast in a top flick. If you are into thrillers or dark action, pick it up at your local theater.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

TRIPLE 9 is another thriller from Australian director John Hillcoat, who previously made the excellent THE PROPOSITION and the watchable LAWLESS. This one's a contemporary crime flick about a gang of robbers who steal stuff for the Russian mafia, and it's one of those twisty-turny type stories with a lot of complexity to make it watchable too. Unfortunately it's not quite the masterpiece that the director or the trailer would have you believe.

The film starts off on a strong footing with an excellently-staged heist scene; this is the best part of the film and sees Hillcoat at the top of his game. Norman Reedus is a welcome addition to the cast and steals all of his scenes early on. Unfortunately, the film then slips into low gear and doesn't really come back until the ending. A second robbery is agreed on early enough, but it takes an hour for this robbery to go into motion, and there's a lot of extraneous stuff where not much happens.

The script really struggles to craft likable characters and Casey Affleck is about the only one here that the viewer even halfway likes. Anthony Mackie and Chiwetel Ejiofor have very little to work with and are quite repellent in their parts. Woody Harrelson goes too far with the tics and mannerisms and feels like a walking caricature, while Kate Winslet is simply miscast as the supposedly imposing villain of the piece. Aaron Paul is pretty good although has too little screen time, while Michael Kenneth Williams has a delightful cameo.

In Atlanta, Russian Jewish mob boss' wife Irina (Kate Winslet) is working to get her husband out of prison. A group of criminals and corrupt cops are working for her with some duress. Brothers Gabe (Aaron Paul) and Russell Welch (Norman Reedus),and Michael Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are the criminals. Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie) and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins, Jr.) are the cops. Marcus has new partner Chris Allen (Casey Affleck) who he wants to manufacture a police down Triple 9 scenario. Chris' uncle Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson) is investigating the crew.

The movie is chaotic. The story is messy. It is overflowing with characters which only keeps the movie in confusion. There are great actors involved but it would be nice to give them space and time to work. There are some good action although sometimes it could be grittier and tougher. It tries for hard action and it succeed in some parts. The movie would work so much better with fewer leads and a tighter script.