I probably would have enjoyed this more if I wasn't a pro wrestling fan. The acting ranged from solid to really good, and the bones of the story are fine. Knowing what was coming made the movie even more predictable than it already was, though, and it started out awfully predictable. When you know what happens to each of the brothers in turn, it ruins several visual reveals and all that’s left is any underlying commentary.
Of which there is…
Iñárritu is a technical virtuoso, of course; the rhythms of that artificial single shot are magnificent, ranging from claustrophobic to the very occasional relief up there on the roof -- and that's the same roof which is the location of Riggan Thomson's final breakdown, so you can make something of that too — but if you do, you also have to take into account the fact that Mike Shiner lies to Sam Thomson on her very first call for truth,…
Everything has a hole in the middle. Relationships are built around the knowledge of where the money comes from. Morals vanish in the face of temptation. Greed fuels risktaking fuels self-delusion.
At the same time everyone’s trying. Spike Lee’s compassion shines through. It’s maybe a little bit manipulative to open up with Ed Norton saving a dog — what could be better tuned to generate sympathy? But otherwise maybe you don’t get how the mirror monologue is about how betrayed…
Tak Sakaguchi delivers and I really enjoyed it. The plot is a pencil sketch of a thing, just a bit more than necessary to support the action sequences. The fight scenes are great, particularly if you’re looking for a sort of special forces feel from your martial arts. Most of them are quick and brutal.
Although that’s misleading. The forty minute sequence of fights at the center of the movie uses all those quick brutal kills to build an overall arc, which is fairly cool. Well built.
And of course I will always appreciate Saori Izawa, however brief her appearance.
The physicality of the film was so good for the first two acts. Payman Maadi uses his body to convey anguish, fear, yearning: it’s a superb performance. That’s necessary, because one level of the story is about Western countries using refugees for their bodies, one way or another. Midway through, Marall Nasiri sits down at a piano and it becomes clear that if Maadi is a good wrestler, she’s an equally good pianist. But that’s not what Sweden wants from…
Four stars for being a cool passion project, two stars for being a kind of draggy adventure movie, plus a million stars for a character named Rondo Montana. We can all be Rondo Montana if we try.
