When I heard of a film that Priyanka Chopra is playing a former pirate i just knew i had to watch it, i honestly expected it to be like pirates the Caribbean buit wasnt.
This one is much more violent and serious.
The film is about Ercell Bodden (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), a pirate turned to a normal life with her family. That idyllic existence with her old captain, Connor (Karl Urban), doesn't last long, however, when he returns looking for her.
Oh, and he doesn't return to have a casual chat, and he doesn't return to have a casual chat.
Ercell's past catch up to her and she has to go back to being the person she was once again to save her family.
That was a great idea, in my opinion.
“It's the retired badass back on the job” is a theme that's been done quite a bit, but I find it fun when done right. It's intriguing to watch a person who has been working for years to break free from the past suddenly having to learn to take the sword again.
And Ercell certainly knows how to fight.
Here it was Priyanka Chopra who surprised me. She absolutely nails the acting; and the fighting scenes in the film are pretty intense. Knives, swords, traps, and blood... this movie doesn't hold back.
This is not that movie where you go on a trip to the beach and have fun with the kids, jokes and treasure hunts.
This is more of a revenge thriller with pirates.
I think that's the best part of the movie anyway.
I like the action the best. Some of the fights are inventive, particularly when the fight involves Ercell using anything she can get her hands on to get through. The film doesn't leave me feeling invulnerable either, which I appreciated. She's hurt, she fights back and the danger is felt.
The setting in the Caribbean is also gorgeous! The beaches, forests and surrounding landscape are beautiful, though the film does a fine job of making it feel like a dangerous place at the same time.
Here one minute you're looking at a beautiful tropical island.
After one minute someone has been stabbed.
Also, Karl Urban is pretty good in the role of Connor. He's got the look of a guy from Ercell's bad times and he's the kind of guy you'd expect to be in those bad times. But, I wish the film had told more of their history.
It's my personal pet peeve with The Bluff.
There is a very interesting story behind everything, but I don't feel like the movie did enough to delve that.
Ercell was once this notorious pirate, but now she's an entirely new person. I was interested in how she managed to get there. What went wrong in her and Connor's relationship? Why has she forsaken that way of life? What made her decide to become a different person?
We do receive some answers, but I'm not getting enough.
The secondary characters are a bit undeveloped, too. I didn't always feel as attached to some of them as the film made me feel, but they are all in the show for a reason.
Nevertheless, I loved the film.
It's not out to be some big technical work of art. It understands the big draw is Ercell battling her way through a gang of potentially dangerous pirates to save the ones who mean the most to her.
Honestly there are times when that's enough.
Another aspect of the story that I liked was the emotional aspect. Ercell isn't only trying to retaliate. She's fighting because she doesn't want it to mean that her past is going to ruin her life.
What if it took you years to become a better person and then your old life shows up at your door?
That was the one thing I remember from that film.
The Bluff isn't a very well put-together place. The writing could be improved, some characters needed more development and I wanted more from the story.
However, the action is fine, Priyanka Chopra is jus great and Karl Urban is convincing as the villain and the movie generally looks great.
Rating: 80/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/movies.
