STACK Mar #137

20 / 99

ALSO SCREENING
IN MARCH
Zack Snyder lays the foundations for DC's
forthcoming Justice League movie, pitting
the Man of Steel against The Dark Knight in
a city-destroying smackdown. Henry Cavill
is back in the Super-suit, Ben Affleck drives
the Batmobile, Gal Gadot debuts as Wonder
Woman, and Jesse Eisenberg irritates as Lex
Luthor. Are you team Gotham or team Krypton?
Choose a side on Mar 24.
BATMAN V SUPERMAN:
DAWN OF JUSTICE
Eight years after the hand-held monster movie
comes another mysterious, J.J. Abrams'
produced sci-fi movie with Cloverfield in the title.
We'll know what it all means on Mar 10.
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
After five long years, the weight is over. Having
clobbered the competition at the international box
office, Po and the Furious Five are bringing their
animated brand of martial arts mayhem and sight
gags to local cinemas (in 3D) on Mar 24.
KUNG FU PANDA 3
Move over Bruce Willis! Having saved the US
President in Olympus Has Fallen, action man
Gerard Butler must now foil a plot to assassinate
world leaders in the British capital. Out Mar 17.
LONDON HAS FALLEN
John Hillcoat's movies have always
possessed a strong sense of
verisimilitude; whether its a post-
apocalypse wasteland (The Road ) or
19th century outback Australia (The
Proposition), the director has made a career
out of conjuring bleak worlds inhabited
by desperate characters. Such is his
commitment to authenticity, you feel like
taking a shower after watching a Hillcoat film
– and that's actually a compliment.
In Triple 9, Hillcoat brings his trademark
grit to the 'hood usually occupied by Antoine
Fuqua and David Ayer, reinventing the urban
crime thriller/heist movie with a hard edge
and visuals as dirty as the cops involved in
the central scheme. It also features a terrific
ensemble cast playing against type.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is a former soldier who
is blackmailed by ruthless Russian-Israeli
mob boss Kate Winslet (a long way from
Titanic here) into pulling off a near impossible
heist using military tactics, a pair of corrupt
cops (Andrew Mackie, Clifton Collins Jr.) and
special forces buddies (Aaron Paul, Norman
Reedus).
To ensure a clean getaway, Ejiofor's
motley crew plan to use a 999 call – police
code for "officer down" – to distract the
Atlanta police department.
Elsewhere, good cop Casey Affleck and
his detective uncle, Woody Harrelson,
suspect something is going down, and with
the help of local gang members attempt to
expose the rats in their ranks.
Although ostensibly resembling Michael
Mann's 1995 heist classic Heat (with a
patina of grunge), Triple 9's production
design and robust action sequences are
more indebted to seventies' crime flicks like
The French Connection, which Hillcoat cites
as a major influence.
Moreover, the director's insight into the
dynamics of the criminal underworld adds
additional kick to a brutal and spectacularly
seedy genre offering. Scott Hocking
FURTHER VIEWING: End of Watch, Heat
The heat is on in John Hillcoat's grim and gritty heist thriller.
TRIPLE 9
RELEASED: March 3
DIRECTOR: John Hillcoat
CAST: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate
Winslet, Casey Affleck
RATING: MA15+
visit CINEMA REVIEWS
20 MARCH 2016
CINEMA