True to the Game 3

This film essentially takes up where its predecessor left of with both "Quadir" (Columbus Short) and "Gena" (Erica Peeples) having been reunited in Malibu while a drug lord's right-hand man named "Saleem" (Jeremy Meeks) continues to look for the people who stole his boss' stash of heroin. Meanwhile, Gena's sister "Bria" (Iyana Halley) and her two close friends "Shoog" (Vivica A. Fox) "Alia" (Niatia 'Lil Mama' Kirkland) are doing everything they can to keep both the police and Saleem from ascertaining their involvement in the deadly heist. But what nobody realizes is that a new player by the name of "Terrell" (Kris D. Lofton) has just been released from prison and he is even more dangerous than Saleem could ever hope to be. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I didn't think this movie was quite as good as the two films before it due in large part to several scenes that lacked credibility with Quadir's description of his top-secret revival being just one. Events like that might happen in Hollywood--but not in the real world. Having said that, however, while this was certainly not a great film by any means, it was still sufficient for the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

The last addition to this series is probably the most tension filled. Per usual, the "main" character in the film Gena takes a backseat to the assorted characters and their stories involved in the criminal underworld. Bodies start dropping left and right, including a couple the audience might not have expected. Direction keeps pacing and tone the most level of all three installments. Acting still decent at best from the cast of performers. However, Kris D. Lofton as the main villain in this sequel is a standout. True to fashion in the series, production value remains a high point, with decent camerawork, editing, sound design, and music/score. The ending was bizarre on one front (I assume the books made certain things more clear than the films did) and offered an annoying trope on another. Recommendation? Anyone invested this far will probably want closure to the series. As a standalone crime thriller, nothing new is given to the genre here.

Where the hell did Gina go after leaving Police Station? Q flew into town, Shoog been by the house, where was she?

Bria how STUPID is she? That hard up?

I've been following this franchise and other movies by this producer for a minute. The stories he chooses to produce aren't bad and this highly anticipated third installment of the True To The Game series was very disappointing. The actors are still mediocre due to extreme over acting which draws from its realism. But the biggest problem with this movie as his others is lense quality. I mean it's impressive to see untrained film makers create these productions but that lack of training shows because cinema quality lenses are never used. The "stock" lens look cheapens this movie and it's a simple fix. If Haley springs for cinema quality lenses, it would sharpen the performances of the actor's and give the viewer a more realistic feel instead of that video look that they have sit through. Taking some classes in cinematography would be a great investment to make these movies into true classics.

Having just watched the 2020 "True to the Game 2" last evening, I opted to continue on with watching the 2021 "True to the Game 3" today.

And I have to say that writer Jeff Robertson and director David Wolfgang definitely upped the game for this third movie. The storyline was more coherently constructed for this third movie, making it a much more enjoyable movie to sit through. And this 2021 movie is a direct continuation of the 2020 "True to the Game 2" movie, so that was a good thing in terms of continuity.

While "True to the Game 3" is listed as a thriller, there isn't really a lot of excitement or thrills to be had throughout the movie. Nay, this is more of a crime movie than it is a thriller.

It was nice to see the cast from the previous movie return to reprise their characters and roles in "True to the Game 3".

I will say that "True to the Game 3" is definitely way more enjoyable than "True to the Game 2".

My rating of "True to the Game 3" lands on a five out of ten stars.