Rebel Ridge

A variation on Reacher, Rambo and all those rogues who have to get justice with their brains and fists and lots of bullets, but this time a little more realistic, bureaucratic and actually less successful. Jeremy Saulnier carefully builds the conflict around the seemingly banal and all the more real friction between the lawmen and a troubled cyclist. Both Aaron Pierre and Don Johnson relish their parts, and the opening hour or so is perfection itself. Then it descends into a genre classic with a few surprising turns, but it's still a great show. Either way, Pierre is the discovery of the year, and I want to see more from Saulnier as he has transformed into a more than talented filmmaker. (2024.09.12)

With the first notes of Iron Maiden, which I don't hear in movies, I knew this would be the movie for me. The path set by John Wick all those years ago started tire me with the fourth movie, with dozens of dead bodies dropping like bowling pins, and the whole thing feels unrealistic. Here, in contrast, they don't play with the dead, they skimp on the action, and when it does happen it looks believable, like guys who have no superpowers, just like a normal fight between regular family guys vs one slightly more trained guy. Actually, it's not even an action movie, more of a focused drama about police corruption, so the oft-mentioned comparison to the first Rambo is no that warranted. Aaron Pierre is a revelation, that stoic calm, stern look, charismatic voice, he can convey everything in the slight twitches of his face. And when he gets his moves going, it’s amazing. So it's clear. The great, and again underrated here, Hold the Dark was no accident, Jeremy Saulnier is worth continuing to watch. (2024.09.21)

A thrilling, focused start revolving around the simple premise of a random passer-by drawn into the world of police brutality, a wonderful build-up culminating with a scene of restarting a modem...and then a somewhat tentative second half, which makes an attempt at more complex motivations and an elaborate conspiracy formula...and Saulnier’s cohesiveness slackens a bit and the slow-burn film suddenly becomes rather “burn too slow”. The screenplay relies more on coincidences and mechanisms that are supposed to connect the individual motifs, but that feeling of simple genre satisfaction is already long gone. In any case, Aaron Pierre is a revelation. Really, Rambo meets Reacher. Give him a franchise. Beware of guys who don’t blink. A strong three stars, weaker four. (2024.09.11)

I like Jeremy Saulnier's films and Rebel Ridge may not be one of my favourites, but it certainly didn't disappoint, even though I was expecting a more intense spectacle in some ways. The first half is excellent, I was downright impressed, it has a cruel and despondent atmosphere, a great Aaron Pierre, he commands respect and gets into a very uncomfortable position. The confrontation with the cops is also delivered very well, they're terrible scumbags, and the whole thing is very entertaining. I also liked the dialogues (army banter), but in the second half they drop the ball a lot, dealing with some kind of conspiracy with a lawyer, who is a completely unnecessary character and because of her the film loses its pace. So you hope for at least a satisfying finale, but the big problem here is that the protagonist is a good guy and realizes that he can't kill anyone, so the action is a bit bland without violence and rough kills, and that honestly bothered me quite a bit. Overall it's an interesting film, but it's more of a thriller with less action at the end, but it's well acted, well shot with a good script and decent atmosphere, just the pacing is quite jarring and the finale is not to my liking. (2024.09.10)

A very dense and atmospheric dialogue-driven ride that, had it been 30 minutes shorter and had a more action-packed finale, it might have been worth a full score. Visually superb, the acting is impressive and the two sequences of the dude confronting the cops are so chilling that I literally felt my pulse jump to 150. It's just a shame that in places it's overlong, although I understand the need to build the viewer's bond around the main pair of characters and outline their chemistry; and equally the conclusion, which, while it "somehow gets there", could have been a lot more intense. That said, even so, the film deserves that 4th star, as certain parts had juice, and the protagonist is a novel, likeable an talented guy who lends himself to comparisons with Jack Reacher. (2024.09.13)

Could this be Netflix’s biggest positive surprise of the year? Quite possibly. The film, with absolutely zero marketing, completely captivated me in the end. The first positive aspect is undoubtedly the casting. Aaron Pierre, previously unknown to me, absolutely shone. He exudes a truly unique charisma in every scene. If nothing goes wrong, he has a bright future ahead in cinema. But the rest of the cast performed well alongside him (Don Johnson as the corrupt sheriff was once again great!). I'm also happy that Jeremy Saulnier kept things grounded, making it more of an uncomfortable drama than an action film detached from reality. That's why I honestly don’t understand how some can criticize the film for lacking more fights and shootouts. If you miss that, go watch John Wick... Despite that, the film offers countless quality moments full of tension (the ending, for me, was absolutely top-notch!) where you'll be holding your breath... I honestly didn’t expect anything groundbreaking from this film, but Rebel Ridge is among the best that this streaming platform has come out with so far. For me, it’s 8/10. (2024.09.15)