Rebel Ridge (2024) Movie Review | Aaron Pierre | Don Johnson | Jeremy Saulnier | Netflix

let's talk about Aaron Pierre who's the leader of this film that we're talking about today I want to put this on record I wna obviously we're going to talk about him in this movie that we're reviewing today but I want this to be on camera and I want to revisit this in about 3 to four years or maybe less but I feel as though if Aaron continues on this path if his agents pick out good roles if he picks out good roles that suits him and speaks of his sensibilities as an actor and challenges him as an actor I think he can end up being but when it's all said and done he might be this generation's Denzel Washington who by the way is my favorite actor of all time and I really mean that that's how much talent I think Aaron has as an actor now what does that mean for the movie we're talking about today is he good in this film is the movie even good is it worth checking out on Netflix well we'll discuss that and much more in today's spoiler-free review of Rebel [Music] rich but first let's get the conversation going in the comments below let me know if this is a film you all were excited to check out based on that awesome trailer that came out last month but more importantly once you've seen the film let's talk about the pros the cons and everything in between let's have some great conversations in the comments below when a former Marine confronts corruption in a small town after a local law enforcement unjustly seizes a bag of cash he needs to post his cousin's Bell he seeks his own Vengeance and Justice and uncovers a secret conspiracy now this is brought To Us by Jeremy s who wrote and directed this movie and also directed one of my favorite films of 2015 which was a24 is green room now similar to Green Room I feel jery is such a great director and knows how to craft and build on creating edge of your seat eyes glued to the screen tension now Jeremy established a suspense very early on this film to the point that the tension is built up that I want to jump through the screen I wanted to get into action because of all the uneasiness that takes place within the opening scene in this film now would Jeremy also be in the right of this film the way he handles the story and the way it unravels itself and the way things escalate was something I just wasn't expecting he's able to unravel the slow boil tension within certain scenes in this film for example I can't stress enough how incredible the opening scene is it had me completely locked in and immediately I felt for our main character by the name of Terry and it makes you immediately want him to get his Justice for the situation he finds himself in the opening sequence again Jeremy is the screenwriter of this film and I think this is just kind of screenwriting 101 but you have to make your audience feel care and even sympathize with your protagonist and I think he did a great job of doing that and on the opposite end when it comes to the antagonists I hated them I really disliked them and again this is all within minutes of this film that I'm already just engaged in what was going on on screen I I also really appreciate the time Jeremy spent on setting up the situation with our lead and the way it handles the exposition in this movie you're right there with our lead character in this film very early on as he's explaining why he's in a small town what he's doing here and as he's learning things we're also learning things right there with him and the way it's done it makes you feel like you're participating with the movie versus finding it to be disediakan extremely gripping and pulls you right into the film and thrust you into the situation without warning just like our character and I love that element about this film so if I were to pitch you all this movie think of characters like Jack Ryan or Reacher Mee John Rambo from Rambo first Blood now with that being said this film isn't all bang bang shoot them up action 24/7 but like I said earlier think of it like a western you have this mysterious character who comes to the small town that has corruption going on this mysterious individual has a pth and has a particular set of skills and more importantly when he's on a mission of his own and people are in his way now when you have these type of movies that are like kind of isolated smaller town situations you need these type of characters that are engaging characters you want to invest in and I thought for the most part this movie had that for example you have supporting characters like Summers who plays a bigger part in this movie in the second half of the film who we'll discuss a little bit later or someone like Jess I thought all the supporting characters really fit well within this narrative then you have your main characters for example you have the chief of police played by Don Johnson who by the way perfect casting having Don playing the opposite characters that we've seen him play before like Nash Bridges or James Sunny Crockett he's great in this film his back and forth with the leag character and the other police officers were fantastic at getting under your skin in this movie but now spotlighting the lead of this film talking about Aaron Pierre who plays a character by the name of Terry who like I said up top is an ex-marine who's trying to to get his cousin out of prison in a small town and listen man I think he is just such a great actor I I'm I'm betting the house on him like I said I think he's going to be the next Denzel him and Calvin Harrison Jr are two people that I think will be leading Hollywood for the next 15 20 years but speaking to Aaron's performance in this movie he is Sensational He commands the screen in this movie he definitely is giving Denzel Vibes like I thought he really did a good job of kind of playing a Denzel archetype from what we SE in The Equalizer movies and not only just being believable in the action sequences which again he's an ex-marine he can handle his own but he has a charm he has the Charisma he has a sense of humor in his character that I did not expect and I really enjoyed that element in the character and it just all comes together to be this super dope ass character who's just this Onan agent of chaos wrecking machine now for you all that do not know John boa was supposed to star in this movie but he had to leave the project and they found Aaron to replace him and listen I love John boa but I think Aaron's the perfect person for this role like I think that there's no one else that could have played this role better than him as far as like the narrative and how it fits the story but more importantly the man is built like a tank and he looks like Reacher again I just think Aaron was just perfect for this role and lastly without giving too much away from the movie as far as the narrative goes but I like how the film incorporates the social commentary on this story's Police Department because as the film displays you have this black guy who is trying to get his black cousin out of prison you have these backwood you know police officers who are messing with him now stepping away from the movie and just thinking about the Hollywood landscape sometimes when you have a black lead and a white director and and primarily white actors the authenticity isn't always the best or the you know the flow of the film kind of feels unrealistic at times but I like how the film handles the race in this movie now it's not you know a a race driven narrative like it they do address this is a black man in this country area and they the white police officers are messing with them but again it isn't the driving force of narrative it is handled in a way that I appreciate it and it doesn't beat you over the head with a message or handles it in a way that it feels unauthentic and it's not like overly political in it statement so I liked how they handled the social commentary with the police in this particular narrative now one more thing I want to mention this isn't a pro or a con it's just it's more of a warning because because I mentioned earlier and if you've seen the trailers the trailer kind of really pushes the action of this film and I had said earlier you know it has shades of Jack Ryan Reacher or even you know John Rambo first Blood and it has those moments and it has action but the action I don't want you all going into this thinking this this is like an action heavy equalizer movie like the action's in the movie but it's much later in the movie and when the action does appear I enjoyed it because I like the Slow Burn I like how I build the tension and gets to those moments but it takes a while and when the action does hit the screen it feels real it was satisfying and also felt grounded to the situation and it was pretty badass I really enjoyed the action there's not a lot of Gore in the action especially coming from jery who did Green Room with that is a very brutal film it doesn't have the same brutality and the film when I was watching I'm like why isn't he doing certain things in action but then when you think about it like these are police officers so you can only go so far without you know going completely off the rail so the action while it's not a lot of it I personally appreciate it so again I just want yall to know that this isn't John Wick it's it's a Western in that sense of the pacing of it all but with that being said those are my main Pros transitioning into my criticisms here now this works great as a story of a skilled xmarine who's trying to get his cousin out of jail and he happens to stumble upon this small town and discovers some corruption and the First Act is clicking on all all cylinders I love the First Act of this film but unfortunately the movie peaked at about 45 minutes into this 2hour and 10minute run time for me now with that being said I'm not saying the second half of this film or the third Act is like trash and it ruins the film but for me the movie loses momentum because it shifts our character's main objective and puts it in the background in order to focus on this mystery within the town and that element to me was it nearly as compelling or as engaging as the initial setup the second half of this film focuses on a character by the name of Summer who's played by Anna Sophia Rob who by the way did a really good job in the role but that particular story with her and her kid and the backstory didn't really hold up to me especially when you look at what's going on with Terry and his cousin getting all ties together within the story that's given here but the way the story handles the cousin and it shifts Terry's perspective and his goal just wasn't exec it properly to me again I can't stress enough the setup in this film is phenomenal like again I was locked into this movie but my issue with this movie is the second half when we shift the perspective when we shift gears and it becomes kind of more of a conventional Thriller mystery it it kind of becomes predictable you kind of know where things are headed and I just feel like you've seen this movie before and when we get into the conspiracy Thriller it just felt like it was all over the place to me and it just wasn't as engaging as the first half and lastly I think this movie is about 20 minutes too long and if I'm being honest I thought the ending was weak to me it does one of those things where you lead up to this moment and you you uncover the mystery and conspiracy but then you don't see the shake out you don't see the ramifications and the consequences it just kind of ends in a way that's just like we we we couldn't get like at least five even though it was longer even though it was too long to me you could have gave us at least five more minutes to kind of show the again the the ramifications of what was discovered so I wasn't the biggest fan of how the film ended so how does that affect my score is it something I'm recommending before we get to that I want to take the time to thank you all for making it to this point in the video If you enjoyed yourself so far make sure to do me a favor hit the like button also consider sharing this video to anyone everyone you know that might be interested in this film and if you enjoyed yourself consider sticking around by subscribing to the channel and hitting that notification Bell that way stay up to date with all my daily content with all that being said overall I thought director and writer Jeremy s did his own version of a neow western meets Reacher and Rambo for his blood Rebel Ridge First Act is incredibly enthralling and sets up the tension perfectly this to me felt like a quintessential throwback to your parents favorite 80s or 90s films with a nice modern feel I thought Don Johnson was fantastic and Aaron Pierre continues to prove that he is one of the best and brighter Stars working in Hollywood and delivers a stellar performance and again I liken it to a Denzel Washington performance Within in The Equalizer franchise now the film does peak after the halfway point by shifting into a more conventional mystery but there's no denying how much it had me hooked from the opening scene and I definitely recommend you all give this a watch with all that being said I'm going to give Rebel Ridge a 3.5 out of five man again if this film just could have kept a particular character in The Narrative longer to really hit on the emotional beats and really kind of rev the story up and also blend the stories together better this movie would have had a higher score for me but with all that being said great performances really great Direction phenomenal tension incredible first half of this film and again Aaron Pierre you're that guy and and I expect some Academy Awards in your future because you are great so I think it's worth checking out and if you guys do check out this film which will be available on Netflix let's talk about in the comments below Pros cons thoughts from Direction the Story how did you feel about the shifting of the story and how things played out let's talk about it and also if you've seen Aaron's career and or if this is your first time seeing one of his movies what do you all think am I am I sipping on something crazy is he the Next Generation zenzel do you all see the potential let's talk about it all in the comments below thank you all again for watching today's review like share comment and subscribe you all are awesome stay safe and I'll catch you all on the next video [Music]