More July 2024 Movie Reviews: The Bikeriders, The Convert, What You Wish For
You want more movie reviews? More options for titles to watch since it’s still far too hot to go outside? Well, fine — that’s just what you’ll get! Let’s take a fresh look at a trio of now streaming titles and discover whether any of them are worthy of you’re allotted valuable, movie-viewing hours.
The Bikeriders (2023)
Focus Features, 116 minutes
The idea for a movie that focuses on how a motorcycle club evolves from a gathering of friends into more of an actual gang is an interesting one. Unfortunately, though that is the subject matter of The Bikeriders, the movie fails to deliver on being an entertaining film. It’s not awful – it’s mainly just somewhat boring, with a story that never really picks up.
The plot is inspired by a photo-book that a photojournalist put together, but it’s not as though most characters themselves are really based directly off of real people, so they could’ve definitely crafted a more engaging story. The one we’re presented with never really feels like it gets going. For a motorcycle gang movie, you’d expect more excitement, more things to actually happen. Instead, it’s lot of scenes of men in jackets standing around talking without anything particularly interesting to say.
The actors in the movie haven’t been given much to work with, but it’s not like they deliver outstanding performances either. Tom Hardy plays the leader of the biker gang, and he basically just plays the cool, tough, mumbling Tom Hardy-character that he plays in 90% of the roles he chooses. Jodie Comer, who stars as a woman who begins a relationship with one of the bikers, decides to put on a thick Midwestern-sort of accent throughout the film – it’s pretty bad and distracting.
I’m pointing out a lot of negatives here, but it’s not as though The Bikeriders is a truly terrible film by any means. It’s still watchable. There are some ingredients here that could’ve resulted in a better film if a more engaging story had been crafted, or if more unique characters had been devised. As it is, The Bikeriders is an okay, forgettable movie.
Grade: 5/10
The Convert (2023)
Magnolia Pictures, 119 minutes
The Convert is a period piece drama starring Guy Pearce. Pearce plays a preacher who travels by ship to a British settlement in New Zealand in the 1830s. Before even arriving at the settlement, Pearce’s character, Munro, encounters one of the Māori tribes in the area, and quickly realizes the brutal way the tribes deal with their opposition. Soon, he finds himself caught in the middle of two different warring tribes.
The film, which was a joint production between New Zealand and Australian production companies, is beautifully shot. The movie was filmed mainly in the Auckland and Northland regions of New Zealand, and it’s definitely beautiful there. The gorgeous scenery contrasts strongly with the harsh violence present in The Convert.
Pearce is effective as the movie’s lead, with an equally impressive performance delivered by New Zealand actress Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, who plays the daughter of a Māori leader. The story their characters find themselves wrapped up in is interesting enough. My one complaint is that the middle portion of the movie, spent in the British settlement, feels somewhat disconnected from the opening and later third of the film. All portions of the movie are still enjoyable, I simply think they could’ve been better connected.
Overall, I enjoyed The Convert. It’s a well-made drama focusing on subject matter that’s not often (if ever) looked at in cinema.
Grade: 7.5/10
What You Wish For (2023)
Evergreen Avenue, 101 minutes
What You Wish For is a mystery thriller that follows a down-on-his-luck chef named Ryan, who leaves the United States to visit with a friend he hasn’t seen in over a decade. Upon meeting his friend at a beautiful house in a Latin America country, Ryan doesn’t suspect much out of the ordinary. However, this suddenly changes, and Ryan finds himself in circumstances he never expected.
The film is well-paced and never boring. If you’ve seen horror thrillers of this sort before, you’ll likely have a pretty good idea of where the story is going, but that doesn’t make the movie any less enjoyable.
Nick Stahl plays Ryan and he’s good in the lead role. His character behaves in a reasonable manner given his circumstances and doesn’t fall victim to the horror movie trope of making awful decisions at inopportune moments.
It's worth noting that this one is gruesome at times – sometimes in a disturbing sort of way – so if you don’t care for that, then What You Wish For is one to skip. For those who don’t mind that though, the film fits the bill for an above average mystery/horror/thriller story.
Grade: 7/10