Verdict: 4/5
You could be forgiven for thinking the opening scene of ‘One Battle After Another’ was actually the film’s dramatic conclusion.
It has all the action and excitement of a climax to an action flick, as we watch a revolutionary group undertaking an operation on the Mexico-US border, where they release immigrants awaiting processing.
In all the action, French 75 leader Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) captures and sexually humiliates Colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), an incident that changes the latter’s life forever.
Lockjaw can’t move on from what becomes an obsession with Perfidia and her partner Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), and it’s an obsession that extends some 16 years later – which is where the film ends up in a significant time jump.
We find Bob still loosely involved with French 75, looking after his 16-year-old daughter Willa – his life now a combination of protective father and part-time revolutionist.
With Lockjaw’s obsession continuing and Willa now held captive, Bob must do what he can to save her – as a game of cat and mouse emerges.
The last half hour of the film is gripping and the terrific, often whacky score combined with some excellent cinematography lifts this from being a traditional action movie with an obvious result to a more wild ride, stepped up a level.
If there is one criticism, it’s that the film is too long. You could have ripped 30 minutes out of the middle and not really missed much of the plot – it could easily sit at just over two hours and feels unnecessarily slow to get past certain points.
But the length of the film does give us time to endear ourselves to the characters, and Paul Thomas Anderson definitely creates an affinity between character and audience that many films of this type don’t.
‘One Battle After Another’ is symbolic of the troubles of our times, and how in the end – nothing really changes, even when decades pass. We are reminded, however, of the power of the human spirit – and there’s a humanity element to this movie that can’t be ignored.
A decent movie that should be shorter, but a terrific ride nonetheless.
See this movie at Hoyts Penrith.
