The Bikeriders

This weekend, The Bikeriders, a new period piece starring Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jodie Comer, is released into theaters. The Bikeriders follows a Chicago-based motorcycle gang as it begins to grow and change as new members come with the founder starting to question whether the club is the same as how he envisioned it. The trailers had me somewhat sold on this movie. I like Austin Butler and Tom Hardy and thought that this movie might generate a bit of Oscar buzz.

Unfortunately, this movie didn't end up being as good as I thought it would be. For some positives, I thought this movie had great style as a period piece. I liked all the elements that pulled it together as a 1960s/1970s movie with all the music, clothing, and shooting styles. The movie does a good job of setting up the basis of this motorcycle club and introduces this moral code that the bikers follow. There is a sense of loyalty in the group that is very well established. The guys are not exactly good people but when it comes to the group they have a line that they refuse to cross. I also thought that the performances of the three leads, Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, and Jodie Comer were all great. Each of their characters displays a different relationship with the biker club. There is Tom Hardy as the leader of the club who struggles to continue the original dynamic of the club as more members join. There is Austin Butler, a loyal club member, who has some doubts about the club when some things go too far, and finally, Jodie Comer, the wife of Austin Butler who struggles with trying to compete for her husband's attention. All three characters add different elements to the story and make the journey of the club as a whole more effective. This movie is ultimately a story driven by the evolution of this club and not so much driven by a plot. The movie does a great job of showing the club's change from a surrogate family of bikers to a criminal gang as well as each character's reaction to this transformation. The best way I can describe this movie is The Outsiders meets Fight Club.

While I can acknowledge the well-made aspects of the movie, I did not enjoy the film very much. I felt that the trailer was a bit misrepresentative of the film making it seem like a story centered around the Austin Butler character when in reality, he is in more of a supporting role. Along the same lines, I thought that Austin Butler was a bit underutilized. He is a very good actor and I felt that he deserved a bit more screen time. I also thought that the ending of the film was telegraphed pretty heavily. You can tell exactly what is going to happen based on how certain characters are acting. It just felt very cliched. Finally, I felt that the way the story was told made for the movie to get a bit slow at times. The movie comes in at about 2 hours but feels quite a bit longer than that.

Overall, while I can appreciate what it was going for and thought some of the performances were very good, I can't say I got a lot of enjoyment out of it nor would I probably find myself watching it again.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B- Recommendation: Wait to Stream it.