One Battle After Another | Film Review

 

When washed-up, paranoid ex-revolutionary Bob's (Leonardo DiCaprio) daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) is captured, he has to connect with the person he once was to find her.

I was looking forward to seeing this film just based on how interesting the premise was, but all of the incredibly positive reviews made me want to see it that much more!

I absolutely loved this film. And I knew from the first 30 minutes that I would.

I had a weird experience in that, due to cinema issues, I ended up seeing the first 30 minutes of the film twice. And that really helped me because the first time around I was so enthralled and engaged with the first 30 minutes that I really really wanted to see the rest and was really disappointed that I couldn't.

So the second time around, I knew enough of what was coming that I would watch the beginning as a re-watch and really get into the details of it, and then I finally got to see the rest, which at that point I was desperate for. I wouldn't want to watch every film like that, but it really worked for this one because of how action-packed and dynamic the opening scenes were.

One of the main standouts of the film is the actors and their amazing performances. Alongside DiCaprio and Infinity, the film stars Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Teyana Taylor and Regina Hall and they were all incredible. Of course DiCaprio was our main character, and a great one, but the fact that this was Infiniti's first film is incredible - I watched her first show 'Presumed Innocent' and loved her performance, so I can't wait to see what else she does in the future!

The actors also had great chemistry with each other, which made these characters feel real, and their relationships felt particularly authentic, which was really necessary for a movie like this where you truly need to buy into their connections.

And then there's the story itself. Because yes you're invested in the characters, but you're so invested because they've been dropped into this fascinating world. We're so glued to the screen because we have no idea what's going to happen next. For half the film I was on the edge of my seat, and for one car chase scene in particular, you could have heard a pin drop in the cinema because seeing those cars go up and down was the only thing in the entire world that mattered at that moment. The adrenaline you feel while watching it is crazy!

It was also really interesting the way politics was seamlessly intertwined in the story. Because this is a political story - it doesn't need to be broken down into left vs right because all of these characters are fully formed people outside of their political leanings, but adding this in just adds another element of realism, and allows us to understand who these people are just that little bit more. It actually could have been more political for me, but I liked how much it went into, and didn't go into this.

The soundtrack was amazing. Every time a new song starts you're amazed at how much it plays with your emotions, and how well it fits into each part of the story.

And with the soundtrack comes the tone. I didn't really know what to expect, whether this would be played like a family drama, a thriller, anything in between, so I was happy to see a definite mix of genres. For one, I really didn't expect it to be so funny! The whole cinema was in hysterics repeatedly and that just made it such an unexpectedly fun watch. I can't wait to see it again just for the humour alone.

One thing I repeatedly heard about the movie was that, despite being nearly 3 hours, it doesn't feel like that at all because the pacing is so good. And that's completely true. I sometimes criticise long runtimes when it feels like the story could have been told in a shorter more succinct way. This is a story that absolutely needed to be 3 hours. Every scene was completely essential, every moment was needed, and it honestly doesn't feel as long as it is. When the credits rolled, I could have easily sat there for another hour learning more about Bob and Willa.

Overall, there's probably so much more I can say about the film but all that will boil down to the fact that I love it so much and really can't wait to see it again (and again and again). Some amazing films have come out this year and this is definitely near the top of that list.

9/10