An Entertainingly Violent Swashbuckler
Summary
The Bluff doesn’t skimp on action or violence with some enjoyable fight scenes and a scene stealing turn from Karl Urban chewing the scenery as a hateful villain. Unlike most streaming movies I actually would watch this again as I thought it was a fun ride.
Plot: A Caribbean woman gets her secret past revealed when her island is invaded by vicious buccaneers.
Review: I just watched this movie on my phone coming back from Scotland on the plane. Not the best way to watch a film, but it did the job and I still managed to have a fun time with The Bluff. I will watch anything if Karl Urban is in the cast as he is so charismatic on screen… even if his accent is a bit wonky in this movie. Is he meant to be Irish? I couldn’t really tell. It didn’t bother me too much as I figured he was just doing a pirate voice, so it was fine.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays our lead, Ercell – a fishwife on an idyllic island but she is not as she seems with a past that connects her to the vicious pirate, Captain Connor (Urban). He and his crew come to the island searching for gold but Ercell has a particular set of skills which she will put to good use.
This is not a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, showing what pirates were really like, violent, untrustworthy and vicious. Connor is one of Urban’s best villain roles as he seems to be enjoying himself and he steals the show. Temuera Morrison is anther actor whose mere presence elevates the material and although he’s not a good guy he’s honourable as Quartermaster Lee.
There are some impressive fight scenes and set pieces and it’s nice to see an R-rated pirate movie as I can’t remember the last one we got. Like so many modern movies however, there are few moments that really stand out and there aren’t many quotable lines of dialogue. Still, it’s well paced and I love seeing Priyanka taking out the trash; she clearly trained hard for the role as it’s very physical.
The music score isn’t as memorable as the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean or Cutthroat Island, but we rarely get actual theme tunes for modern films. It still works well for the tale and certainly has some cool moments.
Overall, The Bluff is a gloriously violent pirate picture with Priyanka and Karl Urban at their best even if Karl’s accent is a little wonky. There are some solid fight scenes and a decent bodycount making this one of the better streaming movies I’ve seen recently.