The Bikeriders Review
Johnny Rockets The Movie
The Bikeriders is upsetting. On paper, it has so much good going for it: a great premise, cast, direction, and cinematography. It's clearly inspired by and pays homage to some of the best American films of the 20th century, such as Goodfellas, The Outsiders, Rebel Without a Cause, and Easy Rider. It just doesn't have the juice. It's a film with one-dimensional characters, bad romantic chemistry, a poor storytelling device, and distracting accents. It's a great hang movie where I found myself loving the parts where we spend time drinking, riding, and fighting with the Vandals, but anything that tries to scrape at the psychology of these characters and their motives felt either surface level or not there at all. It was like watching Goodfellas but with the safety on.
The Bikeriders follows the rise and fall of the Vandals motorcycle gang of Chicago through the 1960s-1970s. We are told this story from the perspective of Kathy (Jodie Comer), the wife of one gang member, who is interviewed by a college journalist who also follows the gang through the 60s. This journalist (Mike Faist) ultimately writes a book about his time with the gang on which the film is based. Kathy does exposition dumps throughout the entirety of the run-time in her caked-on Midwest accent about how she fell in love with the bad boy Benny (Austin Butler) and how the leader of the gang, Johnny (Tom Hardy), founded/ran the club. We meet a colorful and possibly more interesting group of gang members and learn about the expansion and creed of the Vandal gang.
Performance-wise, it's pretty good. Jodie Comer is great but is getting no favors in this one. For most of the movie, she is just exposition-dumping. She gets very little screen time with Austin Butler, and when she does get time, there's no spark between the two on screen. I feel like the director just watched Killing Eve and thought, "Oh yeah, Jodie Comer can do accents; this will be good, " and they stopped there. Her character is entirely one-dimensional and does her best to breathe life into this film with funny Midwest colloquiums, but the emotional moments don't feel earned with her. Austin Butler is just a cool and badass guy who likes to ride his bike with no real depth. Will he leave the gang he loves for some reason we don't know, or will he leave his wife, whom he's not been intimate with the entire time? Just riveting stuff. The only real memorable performance is Tom Hardy, who's at least given some exciting depth. As the leader and founder of the Vandals, we see him wrestle with difficult decisions while giving this reserved Marlon Brando-inspired performance that's quite spectacular. The rest of the gang have some one-liners, but Michael Shannon deserved more screen time. He was bringing it and felt perfect for this gang and period.
Things I loved about The Bikeriders was the clear homage to Scorsese, where it was edited and cut like Thelma Schoonmaker was behind the editor's bay. It can be quick cuts, which include changing the music ques quickly to the opening scene, where it freezes frames and gives a clear homage to the opening of Goodfellas. I loved all the shots of the gang riding together, and for the most part, anytime the Vandals were either shooting the shit or speaking on different elements of the club was excellent. I thought the hangs were fun, and I wish the movie focused more on that or even Tom Hardy's character and why these men wanted to start this. I wish I had gotten more of a sense of the freedom these men sought or the systems they were rebelling against. It just never got there for me.
Finally, the storytelling device was relatively weak. It's through the testimonial of Jodie Comer's character and the recordings of the journalist who followed these guys but just seemed dull. The film has so much bland voice-over for a character who feels barely in the picture. I understand that's probably the most accurate way it happened, but I think it holds it back, like the accents in this film. The accents...oh boy. It's a directional choice, for sure. I have nothing against the Midwest accent. It is lovely and cute, but wow, I found it otherworldy distracting how strong it was. Maybe my Northeast bias is showing, or I've watched Fargo or the DA BEARS sketch from SNL too much. Still, there is a scene in this movie where Jodie Comer talks about killing herself from a horrific incident that happened to her in the film, but says it like, "I WAS GONNA POP MY HEAD YA KNOW" and I almost chuckled from her delivery oh that line in the theater when it was supposed to be a heartbreaking scene. Just did not work for me.
The Bikeriders didn't seem interested in exploring anything meaningful but did a by-the-numbers retelling of an event. That's perfectly fine, and everyone here should be proud of certain aspects of the film. Still, it's trying to rip off too many of the previous films I've mentioned, but it never understands why those have all lasted the test of time or what deeper themes they pursued. A deep cast, good direction, and a hot Austin Butler can't save this one from being left in the forgettable bin.
Final Score: 6/10
Written by: Kevin J. Pettit