Una battaglia dopo l'altra

Battle after another is a solid film with a lot of strong points. It's generally warm and even has a bit of light raunchiness at the start, yet it keeps you engaged. Leonardo DiCaprio's performance is outstanding-he plays an ordinary guy thrown into tough situations with incredible sincerity and conviction. Benicio Del Toro, though in a smaller role, adds charisma as well. The female characters, unfortunately, feel pretty shallow and lack depth.

The plot is simple but enjoyable, though there are minor logical gaps. The main downside is the antagonists: some feel too overpowered, while others seem weak, and the motives of many minor villains remain unclear. At times, their actions come off as clichéd, which slightly reduces the dramatic tension.

Overall, the film works really well-it's fresh, engaging, and visually impressive. It reminded me of Fargo, both the film and the series. If you like Leonardo DiCaprio or the Coen brothers, this movie is definitely worth watching.

Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another is a film that wants to be epic but ends up didactic. There's no denying its technical accomplishments: the cinematography is vivid, almost painterly at times, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn deliver performances that are magnetic, commanding your attention even when the story falters.

And falter it does. The film's ambition - to comment on political extremism - is undercut by its simplistic moral universe. One side of the conflict is portrayed as entirely evil, with no redeeming qualities or relatability. Every action they take is chaotic, violent, or manipulative, leaving the audience with no one to sympathize with on that side. This lack of nuance turns the movie from a story into a political lecture, making it feel less like cinema and more like ideological instruction.

In a moment when America feels more divided than ever, the timing of such a film is jarring. Its portrayal of chaos and extremism is so stark that it risks being taken too seriously by audiences at either extreme, rather than prompting reflection. More troublingly, it underscores how out of touch Hollywood can be with most Americans, presenting a world of ideological extremes that few viewers would recognize in real life.

Still, the film isn't without merit. Anderson's eye for detail, his visual inventiveness, and the sheer force of DiCaprio and Penn's performances make it watchable even when it preaches. But for a director capable of deep, character-driven storytelling, this attempt at political commentary feels like a missed opportunity.

I tried to watch this film not expecting too much, but the hype and mostly positive reviews overwhelmed my simple little brain. I'm certainly not disappointed, but also not dazzled. The film is highly enjoyable, darkly funny and very entertaining, but not the masterpiece I was longing for.

Leo plays an ex-revolutionary whose partner (ex-Mrs Iman Shumpert Teyana Taylor) has turned for the feds, leaving him to raise their daughter alone. Penn is the weird maniac obsessed with the turncoat and in turn wants to hunt down her now 16yo daughter.

The film is far too long, but races along at such a pace that the viewer is never bored. Penn and Leo are both desperately waging dual Oscar campaigns, but it is DiCaprio who delivers a wonderful performance, not far removed from Rick Dalton, but no less brilliant. 8/10.

I do like a film that drops you in cold. This one drops us at the US/Mexican border with Perfidia (Teyana Taylor) and Pat aka Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio). They're odd-couple revolutionary activists of the vigilante militant persuasion, raiding the border, releasing detainees, blowing stuff up and pointing guns at Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn). This first encounter is just a teaser, quite literally. The sexual tension between the cast is disarming, everyone seems charged and ready. It's got a slick heist movie pace and aesthetic, but with a hefty dose of dark comedic grit, that just keeps getting dirtier. The playfulness is to be short lived. Perfidia is not here for games and her renegade actions soon turn everyone's lives upside down. This could really only be an American story, nowhere else would this level of extreme idolised rhetoric, disfunctional society and sanctioned violence be plausible. It's viscerally emotional stuff and whips along at a frenetic pace, centred around the definition of a bizarre love triangle. But boy does it keep you on your toes! Just when you think you've got the measure of its players and are ready to see which direction they go, Director and Writer Paul Thomas Anderson throws more fuel on the fire. White supremacy, spurned lovers, race wars, hardline conservatism and conspiracy paranoia. It's a snake pit, a story that winds so tight, that when it uncoils, it explodes with a wildly weaving story arc, delivered with sledgehammer subtlety. It's brilliant. I mean it could easily drown under the chaos and weight of its narrative, the dizzying set piece sequences, the stars! DiCaprio is fantastic, Penn is even better, then we meet Sensei Carlos (Benicio Del Toro). Names you'll recognise, but Chase Infiniti (great name) as the young Willa is wonderful. Everyone is nuts, there's not one single likeable character. This would usually be a deal breaker for me. No connection, no empathy, no point. But this works and you know what almost steals all the limelight... a road, a bloody road! True it's the camerawork, the score and the edit that make the finale tick so well, but this is a rare example of a sprawling, wide eyed, dangerously ambitious film, that really lands.

Went to see the movie because of the cast, but the promise, the delivery, and the highly confusing message was disappointing. No coherence anything at all, ended up walking out before the end.

-The movie seems to glorify revolution but "not really" and for no apparent reasons.

Would not recommend.