Rebel Ridge

This is so closely related to the Stephen Lara case in Nevada back in 2021. He was a retired Marine, heading to California to start a new life with his daughters. They left him with nothing on the side of the road. No charges, no arrests. Only a "justifiable" reason to seize his money. So much so, there's exact dialogue in the movie that matches the police body cam footage, such as having receipts for bank transactions, saying it's not illegal to carry cash, how the money was going to be distributed, if he doesn't file a suit he might get his money back, etc. The real victim was robbed of $86k cash by Nevada Highway Patrol. Look it up on YouTube. There's a complete documentary on it.

Just finished watching this movie. Checked out some of the reviews, and as one often sees, a lot of people called this movie boring. There were some very similar themes to Rambo: First Blood. But I thought that this movie was really well done. The character development was really good, and the main character was calm, cool and collected for the majority of the film.

The action was great, not over the top, and very realistic. A younger me would have considered the movie slow and boring, but that's because all I used to want before was ACTION!!! The older me prefers the story and character development. There was some great turns near the end that I didn't expect. All in all, I thought it was a solid film. 7/10 for me.

Yes, this is along the lines of First Blood, but this is a step up. Aaron Pierre is very impressive as the calm hero and Don Johnson just seems to get better the older he gets. So who cares whether the story is original or not when it is one of the most realistic representations of the genre you will ever see. The fights are messy, the violence is limited, but that just makes it all the more real. When there is so little quality being produced either by streaming platforms, TV companies or the big Hollywood studios since COVID it is refreshing to see they can still produce the goods. So enjoy the ride.

There's a lot more good than bad to this film. Yes its a well trodden path, but what isn't these days. This looks on paper as a capitalisation of the popularity of the Reacher series as a low budget movie with zero hints of John Rambo.

I hate the modern trope of rebooting licences with socially agreeable casting. And this doesn't honestly play like that. Aaron Pierre, i've not heard of prior, but he's done a good job of the given script. He'll do well from this i hope. Don, bless him, loves these roles. Brawl in cell block 99 was a bloody hoot. But we all want to see another Nash Bridges or age appropriate Miami Vice!!

Verdict. Watch it. If you do, they'll make more of the same. There's no budget for CGI, no superheroes, but the entire cast play out this hardcore version of saturday night 80s tv really well. Time not wasted.

With each work I watch, I become a bigger and bigger fan of Jeremy Saulnier.

What seemed like a potential for him to be a great director has already come to fruition, and we are witnessing it. Rebel Ridge not only adds another great work to the director's hall, but also shows his versatility.

John Boyega's abandonment of the project may have been a blessing in disguise. Aaron Pierre is magnetic and a force of nature in this film. His presence is felt throughout the story, even in the moments when he is not mentioned.

The film and Aaron perfectly execute this character, rich of complex emotions in a one-man army.

AnnaSophia is not far behind, in a realistic performance of a person driven by a purpose and a true sense of justice, in a work that does not hide from us how the path to truth can be dirty, aggressive and cause destruction.

With a fair length for the story, the film allows itself to breathe, but always progresses accordingly and shows enough flesh in its plot and characters to specify its duration and each character.

I want to congratulate Emory Cohen and Don Johnson for making me despise them from beginning to end in their portrayal of a pair of characters who are the antithesis of everything the protagonists represent, always pushing them to make new difficult decisions.

Overall, it's a great film, with an excellent cast and a story that prioritizes its human narrative over action, but also uses its combat peaks to demonstrate more nuances of each character.