https://blacknerdproblems.com/resilience-is-a-kind-of-revenge-rebel-ridge-review/

I often open my pieces with the same sobering observation: It is increasingly difficult to find original ideas on large platforms. Not just in film and television, but anywhere throughout the media landscape. So imagine my surprise when I saw the trailer for Rebel Ridge and was faced with what could be the most culturally insightful action movie to drop since Dev Patel’s Monkey Man. A well-acted, politically resonant piece of genre-defying cinema, Rebel Ridge hits different. Literally.

Simple Plot, Deep Concept

Aaron Pierre enters the action genre as Marine veteran Terry Richmond. For those of us with prison-involved family, the story is a familiar one. Terry rides into a small town to get his cousin bailed out of jail. When he is accosted, harassed, and robbed for the bail money by local police, he stays in town to deliver justice…To the whole damn police department!

[Important note, this movie is centered around civil forfeiture, which allows the government to seize property from citizens. It’s meant to be used to disrupt organized crime. Historically, it’s also been shown to be used by police to steal from citizens with impunity.]

The Opposite of John Wick

Off rip, it’s important to note that there is so much media out in the world that we relegate things to be based on other things. So when a homie was selling me on watching Rebel Ridge (which they didn’t have to do because the trailer HAD ME) they coined it as the ‘Black John Wick’. In reality, Rebel Ridge is the complete and total opposite of John Wick. If anything, this is what the Reacher series thought it was.

Black, In Action

The reason this can’t be ‘Black John Wick’ is wild cut and dry. Ain’t no way, in the world we live in, that even a fictional Black person would be permitted to catch that many bodies and not be held accountable for it. Much less a whole ass town’s law enforcement! Even if said police department is corrupt.

What sets Rebel Ridge apart is that despite Terry being completely justified in taking the life of every cop and militia member on the census after getting robbed, accosted, harassed, profiled, shot at, and a successful conspiracy to get his cousin killed. Terry, superbly acted by Aaron Pierre, doesn’t kill a single soul for the entire movie. If that ain’t peak symbolism of the Black experience, then I have to turn my Black card in at the nearest jook joint.

This took me for a ride for the duration of the movie. This feeling that although he spent the whole movie in the right, he was made out to be wrong at every turn. An old anger sat in my chest while I watched and I immediately understood the character and their journey. I didn’t just root for Terry, I bet my hopes and dreams on his victory. That stirring and violent humanity set me on edge, I had to take a reprieve after the opening scene. I knew then that Rebel Ridge was about to take me into the rarely charted waters of…

The Paradox of Black Existence

If I had known upfront that this movie was going to go here, I might have watched it sooner. To be completely honest, the action beats are amazing but all of them undergird the idea that Terry has to go out of his way to do ‘what he has to do’ but all within the confines of the law. Art imitating life is one thing, but to do so in an action movie is rare. 

Not to take away from what The Matrix, Equilibrium, and Snowpiercer accomplish with their commentary. But those are firmly science fiction.

Rebel Ridge approaches social commentary while maintaining a grounding rarely seen in the genre. More than anything, it leans into something I recall from Toni Morrison. She cites an epiphany she had during segregation and understood that she had ‘the moral high ground’. Because racists were so needlessly petty, it implied that something was inherently wrong with their moral compass. To push back against someone’s harmful moral compass and not beat their ass is a Herculean undertaking. One that non-white folks in the US go through daily. Terry embodies the saying, “They’re lucky we want equity and not revenge.”

This moral high ground is why Terry tears through every single officer, knowing he could kill each and every one of them, yet going above and beyond to keep them alive. The climactic action sequence has Terry spanking these guys while providing life-saving triage at the same time.

Acting Performances

Aaron Pierre sizzles in this movie and makes a hell of a splash as an action star. Mind you, this is the same man who I first learned about from his performance in Barry Jenkins’ Underground Railroad. A masterclass in showcasing dignity in a time of great indignity. I hope to see a lot more of Pierre in the future.

Don Johnson has found his stride in his villain era. He is a force in this movie and he’s just so damn cool about it. The casual systemic racism and capitalism combo went so well. It was almost like a reprise of his Knives Out character, just with a backbone and the support of a police station.

AnnaSophia Robb rounds out the core cast, she’s come a long way from Bridge To Terabithia. Her turn as Summer McBride, the paralegal looking for redemption is full of nuance. Often, in an action movie, this character is as flat as they come. They only serve the main characters’ needs and often become the love interest by the end. Robb shines by giving this character so much dimension off the page. The choices she makes are a great example of how to redefine archetypes. I loved how she fit into the story.

In Conclusion

Rebel Ridge is the goods y’all. I’m not sure how writer/director Jeremy Saulnier thought to combine intense action with such thoughtful and human experiences, but they came together perfectly to make a damn good movie. Rebel Ridge is available on Netflix.

The post Resilience is a Kind of Revenge: ‘Rebel Ridge’ Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.