The Bikeriders (2023) User Reviews

The Bikeriders is great, there's some minor issues but a great empathy about motorcycle group gang members

[kmkevinn-64733 · 8/10 · 10 March 2024]

The Bikeriders is a real crowd-pleaser. The writer-director speeds things up and broadens his scope, focusing on multiple characters and plotlines, as well as an extended time period, with aplomb. Sure, neither the approach he adopts nor the plot may be all that novel, but it's entertaining as hell. Nichols peppers the narrative with a slew of edge-of-your-seat sequences, including a tense fight between Johnny and a man twice his size and a scene when Benny's foot is snapped in half. But he also remembers to imbue the proceedings with his signature lyricism, most of it courtesy of the central love triangle. The actors add a generous dose of heart and humor to the proceedings.

The Bikeriders is a magnetic exploration of loyalty, violence, and the burden of leadership. Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, and Tom Hardy deliver captivating performances, making this film a thrilling ride through the gritty world of motorcycle gangs like greasers from the 1978 popular film "GREASE"

"Fists or knives?"

[MattyLuke-81663 · 7/10 · 26 December 2023]

The Bikeriders is a welcome return from director/writer Jeff Nichols after a seven-year absence from cinema, where he presents a story from the 1960s Biker club that explores firsthand the stories and personalities.

What first started as a Motorcycle Club for bike riders to come together, ride, connect, and feel free. However, things escalate to chaotic violence and mafia-like, removing its original meaning. It gets so terrible that some want to leave, but not without a scratch or worse - a knife wound or a gunshot.

I like how they re-created certain shots from Danny Lyon's photography where, in the closing credits, they showed his actual photos with the real people in them with familiar shots you saw in the movie. They say photos can tell a story, and this movie gives us more than just context but a life and moment in history.

The film has a solid cast and performances. Austin Butler plays Benny, a James Deanish type, with a stoic but attractive silence like Steve McQueen. He's not interested in working at a job or following conventional norms in life. His character is fascinating to watch on screen. He lives life just by being there. He goes with the flow but is always up to be rebellious. There is a sense of emotional vulnerability to the character, and despite his adult age, he comes across as a lost and troubled kid. Austin is great.

Tom Hardy is fantastic as Johhny, the rough and gruff creator of the biker club. Johnny got the idea behind its creation when he watched the Marlon Brando film The Wild One on TV one night. The Brando film itself caused quite an uproar back in its day, especially in the UK, with its age rating banning 14-year-olds from seeing it out of fear that it might inspire juvenile delinquency from seeing the film. But for Johnny, it's more about the style and motorbike culture that influenced him. Tom Hardy has an amusing-sounding accent that sounds like it's from the United States, but you can't quite place where it is. However, the most fascinating part of his character is that, despite his no-nonsense and fight-dirty persona, you often see him making little eye contact with people; he's sensitive. It's what makes him a compelling character.

Jodie Corner continues to excel in every role I have seen her in. In this film, her character, Kathy, gets woed into this Biker world by Austin Butlers Benny. She is very much like Lorraine Bracco from the 1990 Gangster film Goodfellas, with the similarities being that both women fall into a dangerous but thrilling life and how love can blind you for so long before you see the toxicity. They don't have the most excellent taste in a romantic partner. But coming from an already rough life into another can affect your decision-making. Some people don't come from a pretty background. Jodie Corner portrayed all those thoughts and feelings of the character wonderfully.

The rest of the supporting cast and their distant characters were terrific. It's an acting ensemble that thankfully got well-spent.

With me mentioning Goodfellas, the inspiration from the works of legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, you can feel his influence. The storytelling may be a little too familiar to Goodfellas, as it shows the rise and descent into madness, but it's hard not to when making a gangster film. Besides that, it is its own thing.

One of the things that stuck with me the most after it ended, or what I got out of it that I can relate to - is the feeling/situation of being trapped and wanting to get out. It could be a job, a relationship, or anything you don't want to be a part of. Some people can leave with ease, while others are not so lucky. It's an awful situation. In The Bikeriders, as the club escalates to madness and bloodshed, you see in the characters' eyes, faces, and through the dialogue, that they no longer see the value in the club. It's not the same. It's changed for the worse. I think we all have experienced that at some point or right now. Well, maybe not as extreme as this film, but you get the idea.

Overall Rating: The Bikeriders is a solid film from Jeff Nichols. Hopefully, it will get an extensive release date for everyone. Hopefully soon.

Fantastic Movie and Period Piece

[Speedwagonj · 10/10 · 17 October 2023]

Fantastic movie! I was able to go to special preview screening today and loved every second of it!

A really immersive film into how a biker club became a biker gang. The acting was fantastic!

Once again one of best parts of Jeff Nichols as a director, he lets his actors actually ACT! These days in a movie world always relying on special effects and over the top action, Nichols focuses on acting, it's refreshing.

The period vehicles and bikes and such just made it that much more full filling

Jodie and Tom really shined in their roles. Jodie and that northern, Chicago accent, wow. And Tom's character as always so strong, I think this was one of his best acting roles to date. And then Austin, he really put off a James Dean vibe to me and I enjoyed his character. Then of course Michael Shannon was a good stand out in his parts. There were several other great surprises. Damon Herriman was fantastic, as were some others I had not seen before (or at least remembered if I had) and some familiar faces in Norman Reedus (bet he loved being a part of this movie, with his love of motorcycles) and Boyd Holbrook to mention a few.

I DEFINITELY recommend this movie and it's amazing cast and director! I will be there in December on opening night for sure to see it again, and invite friends!

Another Tom Hardy Oscar winning performance!!!

[sonofdale · 10/10 · 7 September 2023]

Tom Hardy does it again!!!I was fortunate enough to watch this at an early showing and wow what a ride it was!! Definitely one of Hardy's best roles to date! Austin Butler and Tom Hardy each do Oscar worthy performances. The script was written to perfection and the acting from the support actors/actresses were amazing too!! This masterpiece definitely has you sucked into the story from the plot to the breathtaking music you won't want this movie to end. I brought my wife to see this with me and she doesn't usually like these kind of movies but she loved it so much she asked that we go watch it again!! I definitely recommend!!

Modernized Goodfellas

[meltemorujova · 6/10 · 9 October 2023]

While imressionable me found the film to be absolutely cool and exciting, there were several things on my mind and here they are:

Austin Butlers perfomance, restricted by his character, was not impressive. His costars Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy, on the other hand, have done exceptional work,

The pacing of the film is hard to judge. First act went on a single breath. Second and third decelerated, while still keeping the intrigue. I've had a strong sense of writers wanting to impress us with an epic ending, but honestly it didn't work. Ending, while being a good conclusion to the story, does not make you leave the theater overwhelmed with strong emotions, which is totally fine, except for the fact that during the whole duration of the film that's what has been keeping out attention.

Empathy towards characters runs deep, you do get transferred right there on the spot. However, there were moments when actions of certain members did not match their established character, and had obvious aftertaste of leading the storyline. Not a crime, but is disrespectul.

All of the notes aside, the film is very well made. It was quite enjoyable to observe several group dynamics be touched upon. All characters who mattered were understandable but not over digested.

Pretty Good Movie

[cinemapersonified · 7/10 · 6 November 2023]

Rating: 7.9 Overall, a pretty good movie into the life of the golden era of midwest biker gangs as the performances (especially Jodie Comer's) and the technicals make this an engaging and interesting movie, though the slice of life nature drags it down the first half and rushes the overall conflict.

Good Direction (Controls everything very well on a macro-scale as the bike-riding and gang-affiliated scenes are very well choreographed and the most engaging parts of the movie (and this is only aided by the cinematography and editing); does a pretty good job on controlling the mirco-scale scenes (though they can get a bit repetitive); the storytelling is a little too similar to Goodfellas as it uses the first half to be a slice of life of the gang and the second half to show its descent into chaos; directs his actors well as the gang as it helps make the characters interesting), Good Acting (Very Good from Jodie Comer (Really embodied the character and took it as far as the material could take her; was the true protagonist of the movie as we saw the world through her eyes), Pretty Good to Good from Austin Butler (Was as good as he could be given his character isn't given that much to work with because of how mysterious and quiet he is), Good from Tom Hardy (Used a lot of experience playing a hardened guy to carry his performance; has good chemistry with Austin Bulter), Pretty Good to Good from Michael Shannon (Isn't given that much screentime but makes the most of what he is given), Pretty Good from the rest of the cast (Feels as if they are midwestern versions of Goodfellas or in the mob)), Good Story (The concept was very interesting as Nichols uses the source material well to create a very engaging story; The story construction felt very slice of life as the first hour was really about getting to know the people in the gang (which put a lot of emphasis on the end to show the downfall), but this presented some issues as not all the characters were that interesting so it dragged down the movie; the flow between sequences was not the best as the slice of life moments really don't build to anything and the flow in the second half feels kinda forced and rough; the character writing was very good as he wrote Kathy very well in being a caring partner trying to leave the culture and Benny as this ominous figure that has a sense of charisma)), Good Screenplay (The dialogue was pretty simple as it complements how the people in that culture and time spoke, a good amount of the dialogue was actually said in real life/from the recordings; the humor felt inspired by the time period and had some flavors of Goodfellas with how jokes were spread around the gang; there was minimal symbolism (could see the clash between the new and the old guard with the use of cars), but the overall symbol of the fall of the golden generation of biker gangs was present; the foreshadowing was pretty overt), Decent Score/ Pretty Good Soundtrack (helped with setting the tone), Very Good Cinematography (Felt very polished and was used very well in the biking scenes), Great Sound (Felt very crisp and made the motorcycle scenes more memorable and engaging), Good Editing, Pretty Good Production Design (Did a Pretty Good job at emulating the Midwest in that time period but did do that much research at emulating 'Chicago'), Good Costumes (Enjoyed the biker jackets and the idea of colors as it is used as a good plot point), Plot Structure was very similar to Goodfellas as the first hour is meant to act as a 'slice of life' into the biker gang and the second half is really about the downfall of the gang (but because of this the movie feels like it is dragging from the first half); about 10-15 minutes of the first half could have probably have been cut because of how repetitive it is, Pacing was different for each part of the movie (the first half was pretty slow in establishing the characters and a bit too fast in the second half), Climax was executed pretty well and shows the downfall of the golden generation in the gang (with it being engaging in certain scenes); the exposition does not do the best in carrying the momentum created from the climax but does a decent job at ending the movie, Tone was a lot more comedic than I thought it would be (would've liked to have seen more of the grit and dark nature of what it meant to be a Vandal during that time); emulates the tone of Goodfellas (which was a stylistic choice from the director), Saw a premiere at Austin Film Fest.

Female Gaze is out there

[bponomar-44942 · 7/10 · 6 October 2023]

"I wanna be a biker mama" Austin delivers a solid performance but sadly apart from his beautiful face I couldn't notice anything exceptional. I guess it was the character and not him, regardless I had joy to see watch other cast members at the top of their game.

Normal Reedus was a big surprise alongside with Michael Shannon.

Sadly Hardys performance reminded me of one of his roles from "Lawless", a mumbly grumpy scruffy man.

The movie starts very fast paced but loses its speed towards the second half of the movie.

Austin characters journey felt pointless and an attempt to redeem himself in the end didn't strike me as something natural.