The Bikeriders

Old school. Honest filmmaking, yet Jeff Nichols goes about it a little differently. A motorcycle thesis, starting with a look at Marlon Brando in The Wild One, wanders between the various characters, their monologues about the poor and war, cars and banging the pretty Kathy. The acting is top-notch in each of the Vandals, but Austin Butler and Tom Hardy tower above them all. Hardy's thoughtful, good-natured Johnny as the founder and boss shows that it was all originally about picnics and a sense of freedom, and Butler, as the embodiment of that Savage, is the role model and son he always wanted (I guess? Nichols is not literally wise). The Bikeriders is based on a photo book so it's fortunate that it has a plot arc and an unexpected ending and says a lot about what women think of men. Still, it lacked one bigger scene to stick in the memory and push it up that proverbial notch. But maybe they didn't put it in for a greater sense of realism. (08/02/2024)

An average retro-style film with excellent actors, amazing production design and a few interesting moments. The biggest emphasis is on the characters, the story doesn't rush anywhere and the finale is barely a few minutes long. Austin Butler is a modern-day James Dean. It will never become a cult-classic or an audience favourite, but The Bikeriders will definitely find its place and its target audience, even if it's not a big one. (07/31/2024)

A quality film, but not made for me, thematically and emotionally it missed me completely - and if I hadn't been at the cinema , I probably wouldn't have made it to the end. I can't tune in to see the characters as at least partially sympathetic libertarian rebels. To me, they all came off as irresponsible buffoons from the start. (06/21/2024)

Pretty weak. Ironically, it's where the film should have started. Because it's not until the last 10 minutes that we find out that the gang is in full swing (prostitutes, drugs, murders), so what we wanted to see will be in the sequel, which won't come. So if it wasn't for the guy gangster shit, I was hoping to at least enjoy the bikes, but NOPE, even those are scarce here. Mainly, it deals with relationships. Tom Hardy and Austin Butler were good, but apart from one burnt down pub and an “almost” rape, nothing interesting happened for two hours, and after the promising trailer, I see that as underwhelming. I didn't completely suffer, but then I'm not happy with the outcome either. At least the cameos of more familiar faces will be nice. 5/10. (07/12/2024)

Jeff Nichols manages to evoke a nice retro feel, but only skims the surface with his characters. Even though the script tries to tell me each of the few characters has a past and possibly a future, I didn't care for any of them. One-dimensional characters like this can't carry the weight of the story for me. Plus, in a movie about motorcycle riders, I would have expected a few more eye-candy moments, some great locations, some imaginative cinematography. But there's not much here. [KVIFF 2024] (07/01/2024)