TRIPLE THREAT (2019) ** ½

Triple Threat is your standard You-Killed-My-Girlfriend!—Hey-No-We-Didn’t-We-Thought-We-Were-on-a-Humanitarian-Mission-that-Turned-Out-to-Be-a-Prison-Break-it-Wasn’t-Our-Fault-Sorry-About-That-Let’s-Team-Up-and-Get-Payback-on-the-Guys-who-Really-Killed-Her-and-Double-Crossed-Us movie.  Sounds pretty mediocre until you learn the guy who wants revenge is played by Iko Uwais, and the duo he teams up with is Tony Jaa and Tiger Chen.  If you needed more convincing, the bad guy who double-crossed them is played by Michael Jai White, and the badass they broke out of prison is none other than Scott Adkins.  Now you kind of want to see it, don’t you?

The plot is convoluted, but a jumbled narrative hardly matters if the fight scenes kick ass.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  In fact, they are kind of a mixed bag, I’m afraid.  Many of the fight scenes feel somewhat rushed, the editing could’ve been a bit sharper, and the staging is sometimes less than optimal.  It sometimes feels like the stars are being deliberately kept apart for much of the movie.  I don’t know if it was their egos or their conflicting schedules (or both), but the film is decidedly less interesting whenever the plotline about the Chinese heiress hogs the spotlight away from the main Kung Fu stars.

Don’t get me wrong.  Triple Threat is far from bad.  The cast alone guarantees I’ll probably watch it again sometime in the future.  I just wish the clunky plot allowed the principals to utilize their skills to their fullest.  If only it were more a legit team-up than an assemblage of characters on their various side quests who only occasionally cross paths and kick ass together, it could’ve been something special. 

Then again, it’s hard to be mad at a film that contains:  

1)    Tiger Chen and Iko Uwais squaring off against one another in an underground fight club.

2)    Tiger Chen and Tony Jaa living together just like The Odd Couple. 

3)    Scott Adkins being released from a hellhole prison sporting a hairdo and beard combo that makes him look like a deranged caveman. 

4)    Tony Jaa beating people up with his knees.

5)    Iko Uwais kicking ass.

6)    Scott Adkins chasing after a speeding car on foot and not only is he able to catch up to it, he leaps onto the hood and smashes out the windshield with his fist.

Director Jesse V. (Savage Dog) Johnson typically does a good job on the fight scenes, but either the time or budget must’ve been an issue because some of the moments that should’ve been showstoppers, just kind of… happen.  The Uwais vs. White is good, although it’s too dark and ends abruptly.  The Uwais and Jaa vs. Adkins brawl is similarly too dark.  The lighting is a bit better in the Jaa vs. Adkins finale, although the fight itself is probably not the most ideal use of their talents.  Still, when I was watching Jaa smashing into Adkins with his lethal knees, I couldn’t help but think I was mentally crossing off an item on my cinematic bucket list, so at least Triple Threat has that going for it.