Warning: This article may contain spoilers.
“One Battle After Another” sounds like another way to describe my semester. But it’s also the title of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest feature film. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another follows a group of ex-revolutionaries as they clash with an old foe who is out for blood. I caught a 9 p.m. screening at the Cinemark Century Boulder last week (discount Tuesdays!), and even though I walked out at midnight, not a minute had been wasted.
The film opens on a raid on an ICE detention camp carried out by a revolutionary group, The French 75. As part of the extraction effort, one revolutionary, Perfidia Beverly Hills, played by Teyana Taylor, has a run-in with military officer Steven Lockjaw, played by Penn, who develops an obsession with her. The French 75, prominently Perfidia and her partner Pat Calhoun, played by DiCaprio, launch attacks on the government and capitalist system until Perfidia is caught, forcing the group to go into hiding, with Pat fleeing to a sanctuary city in Northern California with their infant daughter.
Cut to 16 years later and the fiery revolution is coals, albeit smoldering ones. Pat, under the new identity of Bob Ferguson, has given his daughter Willa, played by Infiniti, a fairly normal life, though it is shadowed with his paranoia due to his dangerous past. His anxieties turn out to be justified when Lockjaw violently reenters his life, U.S. military in tow, set on eliminating Willa to cover his tracks of his affair with Perfidia and gain entry into a white supremacist secret society called the Christmas Adventurers Club. The French 75 attempts to reassemble to save Willa, but she is captured by Lockjaw. Bob enlists the help of Willa’s sensei, played by Benicio del Toro, as he desperately races to rescue her. The film simmers in tension as Bob, Lockjaw, and the Adventurers close in on each other, culminating in a tense car chase (of course).
I was on the edge of my seat as the story unfolded. It lives up to its name, racing from one event to another with little downtime in between. At the beginning, I found myself wondering how it even got produced, as The French 75 was so blatantly anti-establishment and anti-capitalist, and Hollywood is nothing if not an intricately capitalist system. The confrontation with ICE scenes felt all too timely, and I was ready to watch battle after battle on the grounds of revolution and social issues. However, after the timeskip, the revolutionary tone fades significantly. Bob has turned into a stoner and alcoholic as a way to cope, which hinders his reentry into the world of clever plots and quick getaways. His interaction with the remaining French 75 members is often used for comedy as he clashes with their bureaucratic vetting procedures. The film and its marketing emphasizes the group’s status as ex-revolutionaries, likely for fear of being too subversive otherwise.
The Christmas Adventure Club hits this snag as well. Its members are a caricature of rich racist old men to the point that their evil becomes comedy. It’s entertaining, but most audiences will look at a group like that like some sort of bogeyman; it won’t open their eyes to the other, much more common forms of racism still baked into our society. Still, the story didn’t lose all of its teeth, as there is a compelling sequence where Sensei Carlos runs an underground railroad of sorts for undocumented individuals in his home and the town stands up against Lockjaw’s militant forces. Overall, this film has all the hallmarks of an engaging action thriller, and the bond between Bob and Willa kept me invested in the story’s outcome.
I’m not alone. This movie is making waves. It currently boasts a 95% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, 4.4 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd, and 8.4 out of 10 stars on IMDb, placing it at number 97 on its overall database of movies. It’s no stroke of luck that it’s performing so well. Its high production value comes from Paul Anderson’s twenty years spent honing the script, shooting on location in Eureka, California, and the key ingredient: VistaVision film.
Shooting on film was the default for most of cinema history; digital camera technology remains relatively new. While digital production has taken the entertainment industry by storm for its convenience over fragile, particular analog methods, many artists like Paul Thomas Anderson are not letting the traditional form of cinema die out. It’s not for nostalgic reasons: VistaVision produces striking high-resolution images, capturing crisp motion and rich colors. It’s no surprise, then, that One Battle After Another has been praised for its cinematic quality.
The movie’s capture of audiences can also be attributed to its standout cast. Of course, DiCaprio is a household name, and Penn has a long history in Hollywood. Del Toro (whom you may recognize from Wes Anderson’s latest film) steals the show with his heartfelt and humorous portrayal of Sensei Sergio St. Carlos. Screentime is often allotted to these and other male actors, as seems to be the norm in action movies. In keeping with this trend, when I left the theater, I noticed that I was nearly surrounded by men.
That said, One Battle After Another still has something to offer the women in the audience with several strong female players. Taylor’s dynamic, fiery portrayal of revolutionary Perfidia Beverly Hills may only be onscreen for the first act of the movie, but her presence still lingers until the credits. Regina Hall, known for her comedic work, delivers a compelling performance as the resilient, steady revolutionary Deandra. Infiniti is arguably the most impressive player, as One Battle After Another is her first feature film, yet she holds her own with the Hollywood stalwarts with her portrayal of bold, defiant teen Willa Ferguson.
One Battle After Another is a movie you should see in theaters to get the fullest cinematic experience. The stakes feel so much higher when the only thing your eyes are drawn to is the image on the screen and its score envelops the room. Laughter will ripple throughout the room and you’ll hold and release your breath as one. DiCaprio himself said, “I just really hope that people go see this movie in theaters. I mean, it’s shot in VistaVision, the locations, the score, the sound. It’s made to have that communal experience.” You heard the man. If you’re craving an action movie this fall, this is one battle you don’t want to miss.