Western movies are one of the best genres to watch. There is hardly a western sunset showdown scene that has upset audiences. It’s the genre itself. It has a lot to do with royalty and charisma. Betrayal, grim tones, and Texas’s overview are usually a sight that can inspire many other directors to shoot better and more complex westerns.
But the beauty of the art form that is cinema is that it can be similar to another one, all while being unique and having an identity of its own. And according to Scott Cooper Miami Florida movie critic, Hostiles is one of the best westerns to come out in recent times.
Visit their website to know more about it and everything else that is Hollywood Cinema. This article will discuss Hostiles by reviewing them and the various reasons to watch them. With that being said, without any further ado, let’s get into this!
Overview Of Hostiles
To be honest with this one, we just weren’t too thrilled to see it because we thought Johnny Depp’s black mass was just okay, and we didn’t like an ‘out of the furnace’ movie at all, but we responded strongly to this one.Hostiles take place in 1892 and centres on an army captain named Joe blocker. His career has been defined by his dedication to the fight against the Native American resistance. Still, for his last assignment before retiring, he is forced to escort a dying Cheyenne war chief, someone he’s had violent personal encounters with back to his homeland in Montana.
If Blocker refused, he’d be court-martialed, but before we get there, we have to start by saying, wow, this movie’s opening scene is super tough to watch, but there is no doubt it had a potent effect on us within minutes.
We were engaged, rattled and just so curious to see what happens to Rosamund Pike’s character Rosalee Quaid after such a traumatic experience. In that respect, the movie didn’t disappoint. This probably won’t come as a surprise, but it is well worth repeating.
Pike is incredible here, just nailing both devastating grief and the subtlety of processing her current situation given what happens to her at the movie’s beginning.
Performances And Review
While we’re just stating the obvious, here, you can also add yet another stellar performance to Christian Bale‘s resume. Yes. Blocker is a laser-focused soldier on his brutal treatment of Native Americans at the beginning of the film. However, Bale still manages to bring this degree of the nuance of humanity to the character and then explore that even further.
As the story continues, his performance is probably one of the most vital elements of the film. Other performances well worth keeping an eye out for here are Ben Foster as a sergeant Blocker, who once knew who was now a criminal due to being hanged and Jesse Plemons as lieutenant Kidder, who’s part of blockers team, escorting the chief back to Montana.
Still, we think that the supporting performance that stood out to us more so than any of them might have worried Cochran as another soldier with a lengthier history with Blocker.
We’ve loved him ever since, dazed and confused, and Empire Records, but Reese especially, he’s been giving some notable supporting performances, and we don’t know. We just have the feeling like he’s going to get some serious recognition for his work sometime very shortly.
Overall impression
Where hostels fell short for us, though, was with the pace. An even bigger problem for us was out of the furnace when the intensity and the suspense kicked in. Here it is through the roof, but things do slow down significantly during many quieter conversations, and there is a good deal of them.
We also thought the experience overall would have gotten a nice boost and maybe even been more impactful had it focused a little more on chief yellow Hawk and his family, given what a good deal of the movie is about.
We just got the sense that the whole experience would have been more powerful had it included their perspective more, but in the end, we did walk away satisfied and thoroughly moved. Scott Cooper tackles the story mainly from Blocker and Rosalee’s eyes, and we do think he did that quite well.
We’re giving Hostiles three stars out of five on the Dewey Decimal scale. It is not an easy watch, and we do wish that Cooper kept a more robust pace throughout. Still, Hostiles has several excellent performances, stunning visuals, and a genuinely all-consuming sense of atmosphere that significantly contributed to how quickly we were absorbed in this film.
3 Reasons To Watch Hostiles
Even though the movie has a few drawbacks and falls short, as every movie has the potential to, Hostiles has various reasons it is a must-watch. Starting with :
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Western Genre
The Western genre of movies is easily one of the most interesting although out of touch in recent times. This is because the development of cities and want for stories don’t seem to have cowboys and staredown gunfights in their preferences. Hostiles have the perfect mix of the traditional western genre and the modern way of telling a powerful story without having to go over the top.
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Incredible performances
Star-studded performances are always welcome for fans to go to the theatres. Hostiles have one of the dedicated and talented actors of our generation, Christian Bale, who pulled off another great transformation to get into the skin of Joe Blocker. The Gone Girl actress Rosamund Pike delivers yet another beautiful and powerful performance, showing us why she’s easily one of the best actresses in Hollywood currently.
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Insights into Native American Culture
Although not directly connected to the culture itself, the Chieftain in the movie served as an essential beacon for Native Americans. Moreover, the actor is an actual native American descent which serves better for representation and opportunities.
