“One Battle After Another” is predictable. It’s also unpredictable. That’s why the film is so great.
The film follows Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a former revolutionary fighter now turned alcoholic and drug addict, as he fights to save his daughter, Willa Ferguson (Chase Infiniti) from the clutches of Col. Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), a military leader hellbent on capturing the duo for their crimes.
Well, at least Bob’s crimes.
Willa is the daughter of Perfidia Beverly (Teyana Taylor), another revolutionary fighter who has crossed paths with Lockjaw multiple times. As a result, Lockjaw wants to capture Willa as well, despite her innocence.
DiCaprio and Infiniti have an excellent father/daughter bond in their performance, prompting you to root for them to defeat Lockjaw.
Speaking of Penn’s performance, it is one of the best this year. He’s absolutely terrifying, driven and rageful.
There genuinely hasn’t been anyone else in the cinema this year whose veins have bulged as much as Penn’s while screaming at other characters or barking orders.
Avoiding spoilers, certain characters within the plot have elements to their character arcs that are super easy to predict, especially regarding what happens during the third act.
While these larger names and performances were easy to predict from the film’s trailers, it’s the supporting cast that couldn’t be anticipated.
There are too many to list, but Benicio del Toro as Sensei Sergio St. Carlos and Tony Goldwyn as Virgil Throckmorton steal the show in every scene they’re in.
This is especially true in Goldwyn’s case, as he’s not in as many films as Del Toro is, which is a shame because the subplot involving Goldwyn lets him shine in the most devilish way.
The subplot involving Goldwyn is also incredibly unpredictable as it’s something completely hidden from the film’s marketing that took me so off guard but is so thrilling to watch.
Contrarily, the filmmaking of “One Battle After Another” is nothing that will surprise you, but it does check all the boxes…well, most of them.
The cinematography utilizes a lot of long, wide and close-up shots for a majority of the film, the script is some of the most gripping and hilarious of the entire year and the practical effects are pushed to the max with only a few noticeable instances of digital effects.
It’s the music of the film that doesn’t fully reach its best potential.
There are needle drops throughout the film that happen almost out of the blue, as “One Battle After Another’s” tone doesn’t feel like it would work well, but it does. Every. Single. Time.
The problem with the film’s music stems from the score, as it’s always insanely loud and over the top for no reason whatsoever.
It’s a miracle the scores don’t play for extremely long periods of time, because my eardrums would be bleeding if they did.
Going back to the tone of the film, the marketing made it clear there would be some action in the film, but there was no way to predict the impeccable commentary on immigration and an early reveal I’m not going to say to avoid spoilers found within in the film.
From detention centers and sanctuaries packed shoulder to shoulder with undocumented immigrants to Goldwyn’s subplot being humorous yet scary to draw parallels to, the film holds a mirror to modern society for the entire runtime.
The runtime itself is pretty lengthy at two hours and 50 minutes, which surprisingly paces itself rather smoothly.
Well, at least for the majority of the film. The last 10-15 minutes are pretty rough.
Everyone in my theater immediately bolted for the door as the credits rolled because we all had to use the bathroom so badly.
“One Battle After Another” has some of the most unpredictable plot elements, characters and writing of all the films released this year.
However, there are elements within the filmmaking, character arcs and plot that are pretty easy to guess but aren’t anything that cause major problems for general audiences.
Maybe I’ve just seen too many movies.
Rating: 4/5
Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at lsbrewer@eiu.edu.
