One Battle After Another (2025)

Plot

Pat (Leonardo DeCaprio) is a former revolutionary who, renamed Bob to hide from authorities, raised his daughter alone. The daughter's bio-father, Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn) comes after her to kill her.

The Good

This movie is relatively watchable. At no point did I want to no longer watch it (1) When I needed to do something else, I had no compunction to stop the movie, and pick it up on a different day (1/2). 

Technically, the cinematography and direction seemed adequate -- no real gaffes. (1)

Considering the contrived situation, the plot advanced somewhat logically (1).

Too much of the movie was predictable. Although I don't remember this particular story line being done before. (1/2)

Sean Penn overplayed the racist, horrible stereotype of an uber-military officer, and Leonardo DeCaprio plays the part of a drug-addled, middle-aged, paranoid ex-revolutionary well. (1/2)

The Bad

The sex scene is handled somewhat non-graphically, but, at least is integral to the story. (-1/2)

The violence is integral to the plot.

Additional Points

The car case toward the end of the movie is actually boring, but, they attempt to make it more exciting by having pulse-pounding music (-1/2) There is some interesting camera work during the chase, though (1/2)

The twist is obvious. Unfortunately, rather than let it resolve when it would provide the most impact on the viewer, they remind us of it. (-1/2)

There is an obvious plot hole (How does the killer know the girl is in the car?), and there is no attempt to rationalize it. (-1/2)

Except for the girl, every single person is either an outright criminal or a stereotypical moustache-twirling villain. And, the movie doesn't focus on the girl. (-1)

Recommendation

+2, If you've got nothing better to do