Film Review: The Outsider

"You Are Not Yakuza. You Are A Gaijin. An Outsider..."

With Bright, Mute and The Cloverfield Paradox a trio of big budget movies which have used Netflix as the chosen platform for their respective release over the course of the past six months or so, it's fair to say that so far, critical consensus has been, let's just say, less than positive for anything with the Netflix branding tainted on it, aside from the likes of Okja and Annihilation which have seemingly broken the bog awful standard set so thus far. Another week, another small screen offering however, with Netflix turning to Jared Leto this time in The Outsider, a generic, yet overly functional, crime thriller which utilises the much commentated approach of placing the American in the heart of post-war Japan as he rises up the ranks of the Yakuza after saving the life of Tadanobu Asano's (Silence) long-serving crime boss, Kiyoshi, in prison. With a nihilistic, unnerving tone and both underwritten characters and subplots, director Martin Zandvliet's approach to handling the inclusion of Leto's wandering military ghost figure, Nick Lowell, is not exactly justified, with the narrative more focused on handling a whistle stop tour of violent deeds and double crossing than ever coming up with a valid reason for his inclusion in a primarily Japanese cast, but with enough style to at least hold your attention whilst it works its' way from A to B, The Outsider is just about good enough to warrant two hours of your in-home small screen. 

 With attention obviously centred around the fundamental plot hole regarding whether a titular "outsider", or in the words of the Japanese themselves, a "gaijin", would ever be allowed into the strict ruling of the Yakuza traditions, the idea itself is one of interesting possibilities, but with a narrative starved of substance and an overripe, unnecessary violent streak, The Outsider is strangely unimaginative, utilising generic tropes of in-house familial power struggles to carve out a strangely tacked-on ending after we witness Leto's Nick progress from messy haired prisoner to sharply dressed gangster with added cheekbones. Whilst the performance of Leto himself is similar to attempting Ryan Gosling's performance in Drive without half the acting ability or talent, his fundamental dullness is entirely down to the writing, where although the primary focus of the movie is seemingly meant to infiltrate the ways of the Yakuza through the eyes of a Westernised psychopath, the audience is instead left with an empty vessel which violently acts out whenever he feels the audience may be starting to lose patience. Whilst The Outsider is undeniably messy therefore and full of ludicrous implausibilities, Martin Zandvliet's latest still managed to keep me interested however, and for a film which manages to have so many weaknesses and still hold me until the end, something somewhere ultimately worked. 

Overall Score: 6/10

Film Review: Hostiles

"Sometimes I Envy The Finality Of Death. The Certainty. And I Have To Drive Those Thoughts Away When I Wake..."

Reuniting with Christian Bale after their work together on 2013's Out of the Furnace, Black Mass director Scott Cooper returns this week, screenplay in hand, with Hostiles, a taut, uncompromising and viciously gritty Western set in the final years of the 19th century which follows Bale's Captain Joe Blocker as he is tasked with escorting Wes Studi's aged and dying war chief back to his sacred homeland in time for his oncoming passing. Developed from a manuscript left by the Oscar winning screenwriter, Donald E. Stewart, before his death in 1999, Cooper's latest combines the nihilistic harshness and visceral violence of his previous works with an elegant, thematic fuelled character study which utilises the treacherous backdrop of the rocky plains of Native America to discuss notions of death, forgiveness and the mirror image qualities of right and wrong, and whilst many will head into the movie ready in wait for an abundance of action, Hostiles is brilliantly akin more to the likes of Unforgiven and Bone Tomahawk in its' fascination with the complexity of the human spirit over the generic and cliched Westernised shoot em up style action, and with some standout performances from its' leading stars, Cooper's latest is his most mature and richly rewarding release to date.

With Bale giving an outstanding full body performance, moustache and all, as the grizzly war torn Army Captain, who against his fundamental beliefs is forced to work alongside Studi's equally murderous and contemplative Native chief, the narrative weaves and twists through themes which touch onto the strangeness of human nature and the idea that man's true belonging is one of a fundamental survivalist nature which cannot ever be deceived. Setting the drama within a stark and desperate period of time of American history, the environment of the piece is beautifully presented by cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi, a regular counterpart of Cooper, who captures the soaring, rocky vistas in eye-widening fashion, whilst the handling of the film's darkest elements are too expertly managed, with Cooper's presentation of the on-screen violence unnervingly realistic, with the opening act involving Rosamund Pike's family a blueprint intended to both set a baseline for the tone of the movie and reassure its' audience that Hostiles is a movie not at all for the faint of hearted. A few missteps aside, including the unnecessary inclusion of Ben Foster's character which somewhat sidetracks the pacing of the piece, Cooper's latest is an emotionally engaging and overwhelmingly powerful drama which follows in the footsteps of Bone Tomahawk, Slow West and Hell or High Water by being a contemporary Western which manages to be both fresh on its' own terms and respectful to its' inspirations, and on that basis alone, Hostiles is a wholly rewarding cinematic experience. 

Overall Score: 8/10