One Battle After Another - Review 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

PAUL Thomas Anderson could not have picked a better time to update Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland given these politically volatile times.

One Battle After Another bristles with a beserker-style energy that isn’t afraid to ask relevant questions while simultaneously remaining stupendously entertaining.

It’s far from comfortable viewing. But it is downright essential. And while certainly uncompromising in places, it’s also fairly amusing and sometimes just plain exhilarating.

Pynchon’s source material re-imagined the subversiveness of the 60s in the Reagan-era America of the 80s, while Anderson roots his action in the midst of contemporary America, where the super-sized spectre of Trump looms large amid regular footage of ICE agents rounding up supposedly illegal immigrants and those who would seek to protect basic human rights off the streets of dissenting cities.

It shows the dangers of rebellion and resistance as well as the physical and emotional toll. And like Tony Gilroy’s Andor, it also exposes the true all-consuming nature of movements such as fascism in the way that it eventually turns on its own.

Thrown into this melting pot is Leonardo DiCaprio’s revolutionary Bob, a weapons expert who is part of a radical group known as the French 75, responsible for liberating migrant detention centres and bombing capitalist institutions.

He does this with his partner and feisty comrade-in-arms Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), an increasingly unstable element whose unpredictability spells imminent disaster for the group.

When the group attack a military compound early on, it is Perfidia who captures and sexually humiliates the aggressive Col Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn), who vows revenge while developing a perverse infatuation with his tormentor that has widespread repercussions for everyone’s future.

The film cuts forward 16 years, once Perfidia’s arc has run its course, as Bob and his daughter, 16-year-old Willa (Chase Infiniti), lay low and attempt some kind of mutual understanding and normal life.

For Bob, this is largely smoking pot and suppressing his paranoia, while Willa endeavours to lead a more fulfilled life under the tutelage of her martial arts sensei (Benicio del Toro).

This existence is shattered, however, by the return of Lockjaw, who is determined to capture Willa, prompting some unthinkable questions for all.

When Bob and Willa become separated as Lockjaw’s ICE-style team moves in, the film develops into a race against time scenario to keep Willa safe, while Bob attempts to get his shit together and remember the passwords that could unlock support and safe haven.

And it’s this second act shifting of gears into action thriller territory that proves the film’s master-stroke, lending it a muscular energy that offers broader appeal while still allowing plenty of room for the themes to circulate and provoke post-screening debate.

The final act contains some genuinely bravura sequences, including a car chase set amid the rolling hills of a desert highway that is thrilling in both its ingenuity and uncertainty. It’s one of two great chases: the other arriving early as a bank robbery goes disastrously wrong and the robbers attempt to flee a congested city.

But there are many sequences that feel original and supremely well choreographed, including a foot chase across rooftops that ends in the most absurd manner possible - as if to underline some of the film’s more renegade and unpredictable elements.

Performance-wise, the film also delivers in spades, with at least two genuine standouts. Penn’s villain is masterful in the way it combines so many elements: Lockjaw is a monster, make no mistake, but Penn makes him both intimidating and pathetic, violent yet focused and somehow almost sympathetic. He’s a man who, you suspect, is fighting one battle after another within himself, not least in regard to his sexual desires. He also continually attempts to make himself foreboding and ultra masculine (a jibe at the manosphere?), while only succeeding in making himself look idiotic.

It’s complex performance - outwardly filled with exaggerated ticks and physical contortions, yet wholly real and ultra layered. It’s little wonder it has been recognised with so many awards.

Benicio Del Toro, meanwhile, brings calm assurance to his sensai; an unflappable presence who maintains coolness amid the chaos. And yet, for all the energy and comedy surrounding him, there’s also a man who clearly loves those he serves, treating everyone with respect. He represents the complete opposite of what Lockjaw stands for.

Of note, too, is Infiniti, bringing emotional depth to her confused and angry teenager, thrust into a world she isn’t ready for - yet oddly equipped to deal with, and Taylor, whose rebel mother will likely divide audiences, yet who provides the explosive catalyst for many of the film’s events/battles. She is the epitome of the type of character you’re not really meant to like - complex, controversial and highly debatable.

DiCaprio, on the other hand, has perhaps the least showy of the roles, especially once the drink and drugs replace the young revolutionary and render him something of a liability (to both himself and the one he loves). But the actor brings like-ability to the role of Bob that makes him a dishevelled hero of sorts - a sort of stressed out Dude-style figure who most definitely doesn’t abide!

And the dysfunctional nature of his father-daughter relationship with Infiniti is beautifully played and naturally engaging.

Anderson, for his part, ensures the film has a contemporary relevance that, unsurprisingly, invoked the wrath of the Trump administration. But it hits a raw nerve and asks questions that demand asking.

In doing so, it highlights the heroism of resistance and the risks inherent in building a rebellion… of fighting for change and tolerance. It has an anger that should rightly tap into the mood right now.

But for all of the politics involved, and some of the meanness and evil on display, there’s a heart and humanity to the film as exemplified in the aforementioned relationship between Bob and Willa, and in Del Toro’s sensai.

Hence, while serving as a rallying call for inclusion and decency (couched as an extremely well engineered thriller), One Battle After Another also chooses to show an optimism in humanity’s ability to stand up against those who do wrong, even at great risk to themselves.

Viva la revolution!!

Certificate: 15

Running time: 2hrs 41mins