The Bikeriders

The Bikeriders rides the wave of nostalgia. The cast is definitely trendy, but the story feels like filler between Danny Lyon's photos. It's not really important that the inspiration from The Wild One seemed somewhat archaic even in the sixties. What matters is that the tradition of Easy Rider continues. (2024-06-27)

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] (2024-07-01)

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. (2024-06-21)

This retro film impressively built on atmosphere has its origins in a literary-photographic publication detailing the lifestyle of the members of an actual motorcycle gang in the late 1960s and early ’70s. This is thematised in the story through the character of its author (a photojournalist), whose questioning of the main protagonist (the wife of one of the bikers) forms the framework of the film and sets its rhythm. Through these two observers, we are gradually familiarised with the members and the rules of the gang, whose vision of rebelliousness and freedom goes hand in hand with chronic idleness, vagabondism and vandalism would otherwise be hard to relate to. The characters in the gang grow in number in the second half of the meandering narrative, whose thin plot is determined by a study of the relationships between the individual bikers. However, these characters aren’t given any more exposition, as the story intentionally puts them in the position of anonymous, unwanted intruders who in the climax contribute to the decline of the golden age of motorcycling. Together with that, the film’s tone changes, when the initially humorous episodes and free-thinking hedonism are supplanted by tragic twists and melancholy reflecting the symptoms of the era, especially the trauma and experiences connected with the war in Vietnam. At the very least, Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Michael Shannon are absolutely excellent thanks not only to their performances and characters, but also their nonchalant demeanour, manner of speaking and, in some cases, atypical appearance. (2024-06-20)

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. (2024-07-12)