Triple Threat had an embarrassment of martial artists riches and also embarrassingly bad dialogue, even for an action movie. The martial arts were also short shrifted in lieu of guns and things that go boom far too often.

Payu and Long Fei have been hired to help with a “humanitarian” mission that turns out to be anything but. Local security for the site, Jaka, loses his wife in the deadly firefight that erupts when the mercenaries enter the village to release Collins, a notorious terrorist. Payu, Long Fei, and Jaka develop a tenuous partnership to bring down the mercs and end up protecting a Chinese heiress/local philanthropist along the way.

The firefights were often over the top as the bad guys mowed down people throughout the small country of Maha Jaya. Things were always more interesting when the guns were down and the fists and kicks were up. Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Tiger Chen all have experience with fighting on screen and choreography. The weakest of the three was Tiger as his fights often looked slow and uninspired. Tony and Iko were far more entertaining as they defied gravity with their flexibility, quickness, and strength. Bad guy, Scott Adkins, was able to keep up with the kicks as was Michael Jai White. Jeeja Yanin had what amounted to a glorified guest role and didn’t have many chances to show her skills.

The action came fast and furious with the fighters and heiress on the run. Unfortunately, some of the acting and much of the dialogue was painfully cringeworthy. Not much effort was made to create a cohesive story either. As a check your brain at the door, let’s watch Tony Jaa fly and flip, it was rudimentary martial arts action entertainment.

15 May 2024