Rebel Ridge Review.
Written and Directed by: Jeremy Saulnier.
Starring Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond, a former Marine who has the funds needed to post bail for his cousin unjustly seized via civil forfeiture by a corrupt police force. Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, Zsané Jhé, Dana Lee, and James Cromwell also appear in the film.
Rebel Ridge was released by Netflix on September 6, 2024 to positive critical reviews.
Written and Directed by: Jeremy Saulnier.
Starring Aaron Pierre as Terry Richmond, a former Marine who has the funds needed to post bail for his cousin unjustly seized via civil forfeiture by a corrupt police force. Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, Zsané Jhé, Dana Lee, and James Cromwell also appear in the film.
Rebel Ridge was released by Netflix on September 6, 2024 to positive critical reviews.
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00:00I need to report a crime and this was cash yes okay
00:09he just got so small big guy must weigh 250 we're gonna hold on to this money I
00:15didn't get his badge number but his last name's Marston you're gonna need to
00:20leave nice suspect number two so Netflix's new film rebel Ridge initial
00:27thoughts just I don't one more thing it was an alright movie I wouldn't go your
00:34way to see it I mean that's the kind of thing I've been on Netflix well no you
00:38don't really have to go out of your way to see it I mean it's you just turn the
00:40TV and there it is but I could see why it wasn't on there or like in cinemas I
00:45actually was gonna ask you like do you think it would have deserves us
00:48cinematic release why not man I was like it wasn't good enough
00:54there weren't that kind of release I mean I just don't think I did anything
00:57special I came away from it liking it but I would say as I wouldn't I say it's
01:02more finance it's a good film but I wouldn't like you know sings praises I
01:06mean I recommend to me man that hi but it wouldn't be you know on messaging
01:10boards to be like you guys need watch this movie but um I think the biggest
01:16takeaway I turn up negatively would be it may have been too long I think it's
01:20definitely I mean there was like three ends to the second act that's like it's
01:27too much there's too much on it that's stuff that just doesn't really go
01:30anywhere I could eat the provides boy well I suppose we can't definitely
01:34spoil you but but you know the character like it leaves the time it comes back
01:38and it comes leaves and again it comes back you know it's like when's the film
01:41actually gonna start because you know it's obviously gonna land on the a
01:45violent film at some point but then it's just constant like well when's this
01:49gonna happen because it's obviously gonna be there I think they're constantly
01:52like leave when I'm coming back it's like he ends up back in that the China
01:56shop that I he phoned up earlier in the in the movie and it's like right so he
02:02traveled all the way back there because that was sort of alluded to being very
02:05far away like he's gone out of his way to come to this time I think I had a
02:09strong open the way I think when the foam it gets straight and it and I think
02:14it's one of the strongest aspects like you know where this foams going from the
02:18get-go and it's established like the antagonists and the main character
02:21fairly quickly but then there's again drags you away from all that but when I
02:27was watching it I was thinking the worst thing it's gonna come from this fall as
02:31people agreeing with the cops like especially in the opening scene like the
02:35whole you know as long as you comply everything's gonna be okay you see I
02:39don't like this because they're so their comic book films almost at points
02:44they're just so wrong it's all it's almost hard to believe that like you
02:48know they're supposed to be small-time cops I kind of like there have been
02:51cases where they have been you know pirate trucks and these scenarios but
02:55that's just it goes a wee bit over the top of times for me I thought some of
03:00the performances weren't more decent especially from the main character
03:04played by Aaron Pierre who surprisingly is a British man and Don Johnson who
03:09exclusively plays racists I could see V on only plays racist characters but I
03:15thought their performance was good and some of like the obviously antagonist
03:20for more cops were played well but you know it's kind of easy to play like the
03:25evil cop these days it's an easy stereotype to do is I think we were
03:31saying before we got on that that you know we kind of thought it's gonna be
03:34like a Rambo kind of phone it starts off that way definitely
03:38he hasn't been wronged by the small town he's just passing through
03:42basically he's not causing any trouble but you know he's
03:48he's a stranger physically and you know you can see why they see him as an
03:52outsider but at the same time you know whatever what do you think of the action
04:00goes from lackluster to over the top at times you're supposed to believe this
04:03guy's like a hand-to-hand expert but then sometimes there's no escalation at
04:08the very end where it's like he's using like a grenade launcher and Rambo's
04:14like a very slight escalation they had the whole movie it's bold and abundant
04:18but this is just like he's not really doing much and then oh he's planning
04:22something and the plans out the window that's sort of it. I can't do how they do
04:27like it's typical for these films they have the main character be like oh he's
04:30ex special ops but it's just like you know a martial arts instructor. He was a
04:34trainer but he's like the best trainer. He can like dismantle the
04:41whole country in one go. He's kind of grounded in that way I like that with the
04:45character. He has weaknesses like that's probably one of the good pluses of the movie. He's an emotional
04:49character as well like when um spoilers for the film but when his cousin does
04:53events they get killed you know he's tearful he's not you know well now I'm
04:58gonna kill all these cops he's actually emotional he thinks you know. He's almost
05:02just ready to give up. Yeah the dialogue I thought was kind of like
05:10simple but you know it simple in a good way like it wasn't too like it didn't
05:15try to be more than it was like it kept it you know growing level you know these
05:19people are having a conversation and there's some threats or some you know
05:23some tension it's not like I don't like big brain conversations. Yeah but the same
05:28there's no like you know cheesy one-liners you'd expect maybe like I suppose. He kind of
05:32must. He like having those like one-off like just out there statements that you
05:37can remember from the movie like I can remember what like three lines of
05:41dialogue from the movie and they're not you know you come away from it. Anagrams.
05:45That's literally what I say about the anagrams thing and it's like that's the only like
05:51bit of dialogue I love in the movie I remember. I mean I think the scene I probably enjoyed the
05:56most from the film is when the main character meets the chief for the first
06:01time or when they're outside the police station sorry and they're having a
06:06conversation and obviously him being a martial arts expert the chief kind of
06:09like steps back naturally just you know because he's a bit close but then he
06:12closes an arm and the dialogue continues. I thought that was probably like the best
06:17scene from the whole film. It's like the first time he feels properly menacing you
06:20realise how this guy is a threat. It's huge. He's a bad guy. I like that whole scene
06:24how it played out. No it was a good scene. But overall I thought the action was good but
06:29like at some points I was thinking he's really violent to some of the cops who
06:35haven't wronged him as much as the other ones. Like the guy who literally throws a gun
06:39on him and shoots him isn't really like he breaks the guy's arm and you can see
06:44the bone pop out of his arm and you're thinking why did you not do that to the guy who's
06:48trying to murder you? The use of violence is just weird. It's inconsistent at times.
06:53It's like in Rambo at the stage of the movie everyone's getting killed type of
06:59thing. It's not oh he's gonna break this guy's arm but no he's just gonna put this
07:02guy to sleep nice and tight. I felt like the film held a good tension of
07:07anxiety through a lot of its scenes and I have to say that's probably one of the
07:10stronger points especially with the opening and when he's in the police
07:14station that you know you always feel like you know he's at a disadvantage
07:17you're not thinking well he's just gonna stand up now and whoop a floor with all these cops.
07:22He definitely feels like a fish out of water that kind of environment
07:26anyway he's definitely on his own. I felt maybe it's just because they built up
07:32these cops to be so evil but you know eventually the violence is taken
07:36against them it kind of had like a cathartic film to watch at those points
07:40would you agree? I think it could have been more because early in the movie
07:44you're still in an armory and you're thinking oh this could be some like last stand stuff
07:50this could be some huge set piece but it ends up just kind of being a
07:54it's just a wee bit lackluster for what the movie's kind of setting up you know
07:57check off's going on and all that like they show this room full of assault weapons
08:03and at the end of the movie the cops are still using whatever whatever sidearm they had
08:07Hick shotguns. Hick shotguns aye, like just whatever. Doesn't make sense.
08:12Do you think it should have leant into him maybe actually you know killing the police
08:18or do you think it maybe stayed in the right direction of him being non-lethal through it?
08:22You see I don't mind because he's like a you know martial arts specialist
08:27it makes sense that he wouldn't be like picking up guns and using them
08:31but at the same time if you're in the military it could have very easily gone
08:36towards that kind of movie. I mean it's whatever you like if you know some people
08:39like John Wick where there's just no quick shots when you're shooting but I mean it does
08:43that in a wee bit of a different way where it's all punches.
08:46I think the plot was you know it was decent and it had a good payoff
08:52I can't I mean I'm more or less just saying like I would have liked the film to be 90 minutes
08:56at the same time I wanted to see you know the end results of you know after all this work
09:01you know it's one of those films that just cuts to black. Would you have wanted more of the end?
09:06I feel like you kind of want to see these people actually you know go down for what they've done.
09:10I mean the runtime was the issue I mean I was I was glad it's over in a way I wasn't like
09:17I wasn't like you know aching for more of the time as I put like the conclusion could have
09:23been a wee bit better but I mean the amount of build up they had it's just if you're adding
09:28any more just make it a series.
09:30Sir just as soon as I get my money back.
09:32You do not stand in my station in front of my officers and set terms.
09:37You need to be very very careful.
09:40Let's not do that.
09:41Chief!
09:43Towards the end one of the cops who wrongs him at the start kind of flips side and I'm still always trying to wrap my head around that even now because you know he was initially the one who kicked this all off.
09:55He's the one that ran into him at the very start off his bike and escalated the situation and partaked by himself in the corruption.
10:04Like if he was with his good guy cops he would be trying to limit that himself.
10:09But I thought I was like just flip was a wee bit you know oh he's good now.
10:14I said what's the line your man said we called you serpico or something like he gets wrong he thinks it was the black woman.
10:19But I don't know if I missed something but that's the first time I heard that line being said to me like serpico.
10:24It's the first time I heard that word being used.
10:26I don't know if I missed anything but I just felt like I was out of left field.
10:31Like I think that's supposed to be your woman's husband.
10:33Right.
10:34Like I think that's where they were going with it.
10:36That was your woman's ex-husband that they were on about.
10:38Right.
10:39But.
10:40If I'm getting shot in the leg I of course I would really need to be against people who shot you in the leg.
10:47But you know completely siding with the main character.
10:51I think he was supposed to be their inside man.
10:55Was he a state cop?
10:56I don't know.
10:57No he was just.
10:58Was he also part of the.
10:59That's what I mean.
11:00I think he was supposed to be.
11:01Unless there's like a deleted scene or something I missed.
11:04He is supposed to be the woman who helps the main character's ex-husband.
11:10I do think that's where a connection is.
11:12I never drew from that.
11:13But.
11:14I just think that's what it's implied.
11:17The movie's not deep.
11:19No.
11:20I just think they left out a line of dialogue or something.
11:23I do think they put a good bit of effort behind the whole cops corruption.
11:28It's not just like oh we're taking money.
11:30There's a whole system built there.
11:33They're actually feeding money back into the town.
11:35And there's an actual kind of pyramid of how their corruption works.
11:40It's not just like we're evil cops.
11:42The reason they're doing it's what we're doing.
11:44It's like oh they're going to lose their jobs as town police.
11:48Because you know the police station.
11:50It's just going to be run by state police.
11:52You can get it up as a state policeman.
11:53So it's.
11:55You know they're bad people.
11:58But I mean the whole driving.
12:00That's kind of weird.
12:02Overall though I would say the film is good.
12:06Popcorn flick.
12:08It's easy to put on.
12:09I think it's a strong strength.
12:10It's so easy to just stick on.
12:12But if that was in the cinemas I don't think we'd be sitting here talking about it.
12:16Definitely not.
12:18He probably would forget about it.
12:20If ever being in cinemas is one of them things.
12:22It's on the list of movies as you go on.
12:25And it's never the one you pick.
12:26It's just sort of like a place fuller.
12:28I think it's a curse with Netflix films as well though.
12:31If you're a Netflix film you're easily forgotten.
12:33And maybe it's just because of the kind of stuff Netflix puts out.
12:36But you know.
12:38As I said I'll probably forget about that film in about a year's time.
12:41I mean look at the films that actually made an impact on Netflix too.
12:44Like Bird Box I guess.
12:45Not a great movie either.
12:46No.
12:47But it dealt massive numbers on social media and stuff.
12:50I think.
12:51Maybe it's just.
12:52Maybe I think Netflix kind of like leans towards maybe.
12:55Getting their films you know clipped and put it on TikTok and stuff like that.
12:58It's definitely a clippable movie.
13:00I guess.
13:01I'm waiting for YouTube Shores to pull it maybe.
13:03That's why I watch it.
13:04I've seen the scene where he grabs the cop's gun and tells him let's not do that.
13:09I've seen that on YouTube Shores.
13:10And I was like oh I guess I'll give that a wee watch.
13:13No that's such a clippable movie.
13:15It's an Instagram movie.
13:16Instagram movie.
13:18But I thought it was good.
13:19I'm surprised there's no Twitter drama about it.
13:22Right enough actually.
13:23Because that's the sort of thing where these grifters would have latched on there from both sides.
13:28Or wouldn't.
13:29Maybe that's how bad the movie is.
13:32They haven't found it yet.
13:33They haven't found it yet.
13:34Give them a month.
13:35Because you're late and that kind of stuff.