Triple Threat | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Jesse V. Johnson |
Screenplay by | Dwayne Smith [1] |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Jonathan Hall |
Edited by | Matthew Lorentz |
Music by | Joel J. Richard |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
Countries | Thailand China United States France |
Languages | English Thai Indonesian Mandarin |
Budget | $10 million |
Box office | $345,900 [2] |
Triple Threat is a 2019 action thriller film directed by Jesse V. Johnson from a story and screenplay by Joey O'Bryan, Paul Staheli and Dwayne Smith. The film stars Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais and Tiger Chen in the lead roles, alongside Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, Michael Bisping, Celina Jade and Jeeja Yanin in pivotial supporting roles. [1]
Triple Threat was released on 19 March 2019 to positive reviews from critics with praise for its action choreography and direction.
Deveraux enlists Payu, an ex-Thai Special Forces and Long Fei, an ex-Chinese Special Forces, on a humanitarian mission in Thailand to free prisoners. Unbeknownst to Payu and Long, Deveraux and his crew consisting of Mook, Joey, Steiner and Dom actually want to use this mission to free their leader Collins, a terrorist. Deveraux and his crew shoot up the village guarded by Indonesian soldiers, waking up Jaka and killing his wife. During the ensuing chaos, Payu and Jaka fight, but got interrupted when Mook shoots a grenade at Jaka, knocking him out.
Collins is later freed and Deveraux double-crosses Payu and Long to tie up loose ends, knocking them down into a cage. Collins sets a bomb to burn down the evidence. Payu and Long free the remaining prisoners and barely escape. Jaka wakes up and sees his village in shambles. After burying his wife and the villagers, Jaka swears vengeance against Payu and the people responsible for the destruction of his village. A few days later, Jaka learns that Payu and Long are participating in an illegal boxing ring in Maha Jaya. After Payu defeats a boxer, Jaka and Long face off and the latter wins, but Payu recognizes him as the villager he fought a few days ago. After healing Jaka and giving him food, Jaka gets them drunk and calls the cops on them. Payu and Long are arrested and sent to the police station.
Tian Xiao Xian, a philanthropist, arrives in Maha Jaya and plans to donate money to charity in order to purge the city's corruption. Su Feng, a corrupt businesswoman who detests Tian for being in the way of her illegal activities, orders Collins and his crew to kill her. As Madame Liang takes Tian to the Chinese Embassy, Collins and his crew arrive and attempt to kill her. In the process many local bodyguards are killed, Liang is injured but not before gunning down Dom and telling Tian that she must go to the police station as it is the only place that she will be safe. Tian arrives at the police station to get help, but the officers do not understand her due to language barrier. The officers brought Long to her as a translator, while interrogating Payu in another room.
Meanwhile, Collins and his crew arrive at the police station after a tip from Jaka. As Payu fights Steiner, Jaka shoots Steiner, allowing Payu to kill Steiner. Jaka reveals that he had Payu and Long arrested to draw Collins out. Long fights against Joey and beats him, escaping with Payu and Tian. Jaka kills Mook by blowing her up with a grenade launcher, then meets up with Collins and pretend to ally with him. Payu calls Collins and offers to trade Tian for $100,000 and his freedom, asking to meet at the old Polo House. Collins verbally agrees, but later tells his crew and Jaka to use all their remaining money to hire shooters to kill them. Payu goes to his old boss and convinces him to give them weapons.
Long and Tian meet up with Collins and his crew at the location, while Payu swiftly guns down all the shooters. In the ensuing chaos, Long knocks out Joey by smashing a brick on his head and helps Jaka kill Deveraux. After calling the Chinese ambassador to reveal Tian's location, Jaka tries to help Payu beat Collins, but the latter is too much for them. Jaka is kicked off the balcony by Collins, who finds Tian and tries to shoot her, but Long takes the bullet. Payu arrives and finally kills Collins. Joey wakes up and is about to shoot Payu when Tian kills him. The next day, Su Feng is arrested. Liang finds Tian and reveals that Jaka was the one who gave them their location. Liang takes Tian to the Chinese Embassy, while Payu and Long jokingly berate Jaka for nearly getting them all killed with his plan.
The film premiered on February 28, 2019 in China. It had a limited release in theaters for a day only on March 19, 2019 in the United States. It has been released internationally on VOD and Netflix on March 22, 2019. [3] It was released theatrically in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2019.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Triple Threat might have made better use of its attention-getting cast, but action fans should still find the end results entertaining enough to rate a rental." [4] Rotten Tomatoes also ranked it at No. 4 on its list of "The Best Action Movies of 2019". [5] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [6]
For Forbes , Scott Mendelson wrote: "That being said, this is still an action movie starring a host of action movie all-stars, and they all get a chance to shine both in terms of character work and butt-kicking." [7] Fred Topel of We Live Entertainment wrote: "You've got Silat vs Kung Fu and Muay Thai. They each get plenty of chances to fight solo too, or to team up against a powerful foe. Triple Threat really explores all the possible combinations of martial arts talent at their disposal." [8]
Amanda Sink of Hollywood Outsider wrote that Triple Threat is explosively fun, ″with some of the best martial arts fight scenes, basic story turned intriguing, and a pronounced cast." [9] Eoin of Action Elite gave the film 4 out of 5 stars wrote: "Overall, Triple Threat is a near perfect blend of fistfights and firepower making it easily the best action movie of the year so far; it has plenty of breakneck action, a cast that is clearly having a ball and one of the highest body counts in years." [10]
Cary Daring of Houston Chronicle wrote: "Triple Threat does not deliver on its kinetic casting promise." [11] Dom Sinacola of Paste Magazine wrote: "Triple Threat fight scenes never as mercilessly satiating as they could get nor its plot as brisk and fatless as it should be. Instead, a muddled narrative about criss-crossing allegiances and noble billionaires and shadowy criminal enterprises." [12]
Nick Harley of Den of Geek wrote: "You'll spend most of the film's running time hoping that this trio gets to work together again in a film worthy of their talents." [13]
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to martial arts:
Universal Soldier is a 1992 American military science-fiction action film directed by Roland Emmerich, produced by Allen Shapiro, Craig Baumgarten, and Joel B. Michaels, and written by Richard Rothstein, Christopher Leitch, and Dean Devlin. The film tells the story of Luc Deveraux, portrayed by Jean-Claude Van Damme, a former U.S. Army soldier who was killed in the Vietnam War in 1969, and returned to life following a secret military project called the "Universal Soldier" program. However, he finds out about his past, though his memory was erased, and escapes alongside a young TV journalist. Along the way, they have to deal with the return of his archenemy, Sgt. Andrew Scott, who had lost his sanity in the Vietnam War, and became a psychotic megalomaniac, intent on killing him and leading the Universal Soldiers.
Crank is a 2006 American action film directed by Neveldine/Taylor in their directorial debuts. It stars Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Efren Ramirez, and Dwight Yoakam. The title of the film comes from a slang word for methamphetamine. In the film, Chev Chelios (Statham), a L.A.–based hitman, is poisoned by a synthetic drug and must keep his adrenaline flowing constantly in order to keep himself alive, while trying to track down the culprits responsible for poisoning him. It was followed by a sequel titled Crank: High Voltage.
Scott Edward Adkins is a British actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), a role he reprised in its sequels Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017). He has since made films in a variety of genres, such as crime dramas, martial arts movies, war films, action thrillers, sci-fi actioners and action comedies, mostly as the lead.
Merantau, released in some countries as Merantau Warrior, is a 2009 Indonesian martial arts action film written, directed and edited by Gareth Huw Evans, and starring Iko Uwais. The film, which marks Uwais' debut as an actor, is the first collaboration between director Evans and star Uwais. It also marks the acting debut of Yayan Ruhian, both of whom Evans met while shooting for a documentary in Indonesia which became his introduction to the Pencak Silat martial art.
Uwais Qorny, known professionally as Iko Uwais, is an Indonesian actor, stuntman, fight choreographer, and martial artist. He is best known for acting in the action films Merantau (2009), The Raid (2011), The Raid 2 (2014), Headshot (2016), Mile 22 (2018), The Night Comes for Us (2018), Stuber (2019) and the Netflix series Wu Assassins (2019–22).
The Raid is a 2011 Indonesian action thriller film written and directed by Gareth Evans and produced by Ario Sagantoro. The film stars Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Ray Sahetapy and Yayan Ruhian. The film follows an Indonesian National Police tactical squad that is deployed to raid a ruthless drug lord's apartment block in the slums of Jakarta, only to be encircled by the criminals, forcing them to fight their way through the complex.
Gareth Huw Evans is a Welsh film director, screenwriter, editor, and action choreographer. He is best known for the Indonesian action crime films Merantau (2009), The Raid (2011), and The Raid 2 (2014), and for bringing the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat into world cinema through these films. He is also known for co-creating, co-writing, co-directing, and executive producing the Sky Atlantic/AMC action crime drama television series Gangs of London (2020–present), alongside Matt Flannery, based on the 2006 video game of the same name.
Johannes Taslim, known professionally as Joe Taslim, is an Indonesian actor and martial artist. He was a member of Indonesia’s national judo team from 1997 to 2009, becoming a three-time medalist at the Southeast Asian Games, and a Gold medalist at the 2008 Pekan Olahraga Nasional.
The Raid 2, also known as The Raid: Retaliation, is a 2014 Indonesian action thriller film written, directed and edited by the Welsh filmmaker Gareth Evans. It is the sequel to the 2011 film The Raid and stars Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusadewo, Alex Abbad, Julie Estelle, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kenichi Endō, and Kazuki Kitamura. In the film, Rama is sent undercover to expose the corrupt police officials colluding with the crime families of Jakarta's criminal underworld.
The Night Comes for Us is a 2018 Indonesian action thriller film written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto. It was originally conceived as a screenplay and then adapted into a graphic novel, before finally being released as a film. In December 2014, Tjahjanto confirmed he was working with Indonesian artist hub Glitch Network to adapt his original screenplay into comic form. The film stars Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Julie Estelle, Sunny Pang, Zack Lee and Shareefa Daanish. In the film, a former crime enforcer (Taslim) sets out to rescue a young girl from the crime syndicate, which later sends a rising gang prospect (Uwais) and legions of thugs to eliminate the enforcer and the young girl.
Tiger Chen is a Chinese martial artist, stuntman and actor. Tiger Chen is Yuen Wo Ping's protege and Keanu Reeves's teacher and friend. He was also Uma Thurman's stunt double.
Yayan Ruhian is an Indonesian martial artist and actor. He is known for co-starring in Gareth Evans' films The Raid (2011) as Mad Dog, The Raid 2 (2014) as Prakoso, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) as Tasu Leech, and Beyond Skyline (2017) as the police chief. He reprises this role in Skylines (2020).
Beyond Skyline is a 2017 American science fiction action film written, co-produced and directed by Liam O'Donnell in his directorial debut. It stars Frank Grillo, Bojana Novakovic, Jonny Weston, Iko Uwais, Callan Mulvey, Yayan Ruhian, Pamelyn Chee, Betty Gabriel, and Antonio Fargas. It is the sequel to the 2010 film Skyline and the second installment in the Skyline film series, set concurrently with the events of the first film.
Mile 22 is a 2018 American espionage action thriller film directed by Peter Berg and written by Lea Carpenter, from a story by Carpenter and Graham Roland. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Iko Uwais, John Malkovich, Lauren Cohan, and Ronda Rousey. It follows an elite top secret CIA unit composed of paramilitary officers from the Special Activities Division's Ground Branch, that has to escort a high-priority asset, a rogue police officer, 22 miles to an extraction point while being hunted by the government. The film marks the fourth collaboration between Berg and Wahlberg, following Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Patriots Day.
Headshot is a 2016 Indonesian action film directed by the Mo Brothers. The film stars Iko Uwais and Chelsea Islan in the lead roles. In the film, a man with amnesia, clashes against a crime syndicate to protect the doctor who saved his life.
Stuber is a 2019 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Dowse and written by Tripper Clancy. Its plot follows a mild-mannered Uber driver named Stu who picks up a passenger who turns out to be a cop hot on the trail of a brutal killer. Iko Uwais, Natalie Morales, Betty Gilpin, Jimmy Tatro, Mira Sorvino, and Karen Gillan also star.
Wu Assassins is an American supernatural action television series, created by John Wirth and Tony Krantz that premiered on Netflix on August 8, 2019. The series stars Iko Uwais, Byron Mann, Lewis Tan, Lawrence Kao, Celia Au, Li Jun Li, Tommy Flanagan, and Katheryn Winnick. The first season received positive reviews, with critics praising the fight choreography, although there was criticism of the plot.
Expend4bles is a 2023 American action thriller film and the fourth installment in The Expendables franchise, following The Expendables 3 (2014). The film stars an ensemble cast of largely action film actors consisting of Jason Statham, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Randy Couture, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, Andy García, and Sylvester Stallone. It is directed by Scott Waugh from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart and Max D. Adams, based on a story by Spenser Cohen, Wimmer and Daggerhart.
Fistful of Vengeance is a 2022 American supernatural action thriller film directed by Roel Reiné, and written by Cameron Litvack, Jessica Chou and Yalun Tu. The film serves as a follow-up to the first season of the television series Wu Assassins, and stars Iko Uwais, Lewis Tan, Lawrence Kao, JuJu Chan, Pearl Thusi, Francesca Corney, Jason Tobin, Rhatha Phongam and Simon Kuke. The film was released worldwide on February 17, 2022, on Netflix.