Netflix’s new action-packed film directed by J.C. Chandor, Triple Frontier, gathers an incredible cast in exotic locations such as Hawaii, Bogota, and Columbia. Read Hollywood Reporter’s spoiler-inclusive interview with producer, Neal Dodson, to learn about the challenges faced in these locations. Ben Affleck plays Tom “Redfly” Davis, the same sort of smart, capable character we saw Affleck play in The Accountant and the DC Extended Universe as Batman. Oscar Isaac is Santiago “Pope” Garcia, a slightly more brooding version of Poe Dameron from Star Wars. They are joined by Charlie Hunnam as William “Ironhead” Miller, Garrett Hedlund as Benny Miller, and Pedro Pascal as Francisco “Catfish” Morales.
These five protagonists are elite military veterans, most of whom have left active combat for a variety of reasons, ranging from being shot down to having a cocaine problem. After opening the film with Pope in a raid on a house in Brazil used by a local drug lord, we see a speech from Ironhead to active duty soldiers, one he often gives in his new role outside of combat. Pope tries to recruit Ironhead and the rest of the gang to pull off a heist. After learning where to find the drug lord that terrorizes Brazil, as well as all of his money, Pope is ready to take action. The team begrudgingly agrees to the mission and forms a strategy, showcasing each member’s experience and expertise. When greed gets in the way of a solid plan, the heist gets messy.
In addition to providing suspense and action, the film offers themes of camaraderie, loyalty, and morality. The relationships between the members of the team are established naturally through very real conversations. While there are very believable bonds between the protagonists, unfortunately, we don’t get to know who most of them are individually. Everyone knows Ironhead will do what he believes is best for his family, but other than that, the rest just seem to be in rough spots, not achieving their potential. Even Pope, who often drives the narrative, is left unestablished other than when the others mention that they know about his desire to help Brazil.
After the heist takes a turn for the worse, the action is gripping. The movie smoothly transitions from stealth to in-your-face action here and at several other points. Keeping the viewer excited is never the problem, but the intense action scenes are, at times, used as a crutch because they are so well done while the viewer can be left wanting more elsewhere. A big gap is character motivation. We follow a group of intelligent, experienced, and highly skilled individuals who often seem to be morally upright, changing plans in order to avoid killing, but they go on a dangerous mission with reasons that are not always well-defined. Yes, there is a big payday if things go well, but they all have much safer, more reliable ways of making money back home. The film might have been strengthened if it dug deeper into the protagonists and their motivations.
It seemed like the film wanted to dig deeper. Triple Frontier dabbles in themes of loyalty and learning from mistakes, but it sometimes betrays those themes by resolving interpersonal conflict hastily to move forward with the plot. It could have instead had the characters grow or further exploring the themes. I’m glad I watched this action-packed thrill ride, but I won’t be rushing to watch it again soon. It’s worth watching if you’re wanting to watch something exciting on Netflix.