In the industry of cinema few cultures have capture the imagination like the motorcycle clubs both on the small and big screen with many great movies and tv series, its the rugged aspect with individualism, rebellion and brotherhood gives birth to many great storytelling. Jeff Nichols' "The Bikeriders" (2023) is a great example of this, with a great cast and script brings the story of a motorcycle club on 1960s Midwestern, inspired by Danny Lyon's 1967 photo book the movies goes nose first into the lives of vandals group that evolve through time becoming a formidable gang.
The story centers around Kathy, a strong woman played by Jodie Comer, who becomes deeply involve with Benny, role played by the well known Austin Butler who has recently taken the industry by storm with the movie Dune: Part II and the TV series Masters of The Air. Benny is a member of the Vandals, a club led by the charismatic Jonny, role played by no other Tom Hardy who is also going to have a great year with Bikeriders and his last Venom movie. Down the line their bikers club transforms from a group of local outcasts into a dangerous underworld of violence and crime. The movie explores themes of loyalty, identity and the search of self with a chaotic rebellious culture as backdrop.
Platform: Theaters
Release: June 21, 2024
Creating "The Bikeriders” could not be taken so slightly as they are entering the motorcycle club culture world wide, specially their roots, Nichols’ goal was to create a show that portrayed the bikers in a positive light but also explored the negative side of being a biker, its because of this that the movie realism is underlined, from the use of period bikes and the overall setup, the look and feel of the movie has to be right for this the movie was produced with the collaboration of Harley Davidson, seeking to establish the cultural relevance of the movie and association with the famous brand.
Nichols took inspiration from Lyon’s work and incorporated them into the making of the film, took him years to write the script, thinking how to portray the two sides of the biker’s life, the glamorous and the violent. Although this is not the first time that the director has attempted to portray a realistic picture the effort was quite satisfying primarily because Hardy, Butler, and Comer gave their best to make the film’s characters believable as they have mention in a couple of interviews, the movie would not come down to fight scenes only but how much it gives the audience the sensation they watching and living inside a movie from the 1960s. Johnny the protagonist, can be described as a character with shades of both the anti hero and the anti villain; he is a compelling leader of the group yet he is not a completely moral character as he could also turn as violent as any other character on the movie. What is also interesting is the fact that Butler portrays his character Benny as a lone rider who is bound by his commitment to the club and his affection towards Kathy who is portrayed by Comer and who delivers an emotional performance given the nature of her husband’s profession, one day he could easily not come back to her.
The character Kathy is played by Jodie Comer who is a talented British actress, Kathy who is a strong willed woman who becomes involved with the Vandals motorcycle club, Jodie Comer is well known for her performance as the character Villanelle in the BBC America series ‘Killing Eve’ (2018-2022) where she won the British Academy Television Award and Primetime Emmy Award. This movie, this character and Comer’s ability to do various accents and her dedication to her roles has made her a great actress over the time, I mostly remember her for her role on "The Last Duel".
The young and talented Austin Butler who plays the role of Benny one of the members of the Vandals and who is torn between his love for the band and his family. Butler started his television acting career in 2007 with two shows, Zoey 101 and then The Carrie Diaries from 2013-2014. While Austin Butler gained recognition for his work in the TV series “13 Reasons Why,” it was his role of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” (2022) that probably send him to the super start status winning a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. The change that Butler made in “Elvis” is prove of his dedication and talent to act out such roles that make him fit to act as Benny in The Bikeriders.
Tom Hardy plays the role of Johnny, the leader of the Vandals who is usually linked with strong and passionate scenes from what I can sense from the trailer. Hardy's career includes a wide range of roles from the violent Bane in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012) to the titular character in “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015), he has also appeared in films like ‘Inception’ (2010), ‘The Revenant’ (2015) and ‘Venom’ (2018). As for the role of Johnny, Hardy is ideal for the part because, he can dive deep into his characters and in addition, he has a strong screen presence, anyone who is a cinema lover recognize Tom Hardy on a movie.
Many might not seen it this way but the movie focuses on the problem of toxic masculinity and its effect on people, the ride or die way, the highway style coming from both individuals and in groups, its here where the character of Johnny and Benny fit in although there is some contrast between them, they represent the different aspects of this theme specifically, problems of developing in a society that enforces certain rules that might turn them violent as a reaction to this rules becoming the dominant male image against the law. Another interesting theme of the movie is the theme of people wanting to belong somewhere, in this case the bike culture, he bikers club culture, I might be wrong but I think would also be the case of Kathy that despite knowing the risk of her husbands chosen profession she is willing to stay with him even though I'm sure she had other options to take, probably why critics and online comments have mention how she was able to make her character every emotional and human like to the point of bringing the audience closer to understanding her reasons and hardship of their lives.
What will make the difference on this movie is details to the timeline and the acting coming from super stars like Hardy and Butler with a great supporting cast including Mr. Norman Reedus mostly known for his role in The Walking Dead. There probably not much from the classic premise of a bikers club movie but its the story and emotions of the characters that could gain the recognition from the audience since to be honest this is a very basic setup that we have extensively seen on TV series like Mayans and Sons of Anarchy through their multiple seasons, episode after episode.
The Bikeriders mostly seem to be about a cycle of violence and power but it is also about identity and basic humand need to belong somewhere, that is the case of Benny when he says they would have to kill him first before he takes off his bikerclub jacket, its ride or die for him. The movie tries to address viewers with other more comprehensive social issues by describing the chracters and their expiriences.
The movie has been very welcome by critics and part of an audience that already had the expirience to watch it on multiple festival, sittin with very good scores onlines on websites like IMDB 7.5/10 and RottenTomatoes with an 84% of acceptance from the critics, does look like a great watch and I doubt it would be the opposite of what I watch so far on the trailers if not even better.
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