It feels like it has been years since there was a pirate craze in cinema, but Amazon Prime’s Original film, “The Bluff,” is bringing the genre back, and I couldn’t be more excited. Ever since I saw the movie poster online for “The Bluff” a few weeks before it was released, I’ve been counting down the days in anticipation.
“The Bluff” is an absolutely swashbuckling sensation that never leaves the audience with a moment of rest. The film starts with action, ends with action, and there are even more action-packed pirate fight scenes in between. I was afraid to look away from my computer screen in fear of missing something epic because each scene was packed with violent pirate battles and complex stunts.
The stuntwork in the film was captivating, especially that of the main character, played by Priyanka Chopra Jones, a former pirate captain known throughout the lands as a ruthless, violent criminal. In one scene alone, Chopra Jones is fighting off her attackers, getting thrown around the room, breaking furniture against people, jumping through windows, and beating a man with a pointy seashell — it’s awesome!
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Chopra Jones’ character was so cool in terms of personality and actions, you couldn’t help but get excited whenever she began taking down the bad guys in increasingly elaborate and bloody ways. She exuded ferocity and confidence with ease, and gave the impression of a true, well-rehearsed killer.
“The Bluff” holds no restraint when it comes to splashing blood everywhere; it’s an ultimate bloody massacre of violent proportions, just as all good pirate films should be. The R rating is definitely earned for its bloody images, especially when several men are blown up into pieces. One scene even splatters the camera with blood for the audience, an interesting touch that I found quite fun.
While I did heavily enjoy the action and stunt work of “The Bluff,” there was a clear lack of pirate ships in a film about pirates. A majority of the film takes place on a small island, and besides the initial opening scene on a ship and when the villains arrive, no other pirate ships are seen. Sure, there was sword-fighting, cannons, buried treasure, and spyglasses — all common pirate-movie props — but pirate ships themselves seemed to be out of the budget.
In a way, this makes sense, especially as the climax of the film takes place in a safehouse built on, as the title suggests, a bluff. However, I was still left hoping for some more pirate ships to make an appearance throughout the film.
The characters were not as dynamic as they could have been. The film alludes to many aspects of the characters’ backstories, without specifying any of these traits and traumas with enough detail to create a full profile on any of the characters. Each time there was a new allusion to the epic tales of each character’s past, I intrinsically wanted to know more about it.
There is a lot of potential with this story and cast of characters, and I would love to see a prequel film made about how each character came to be. The story of the main character has a lot of depth I would like to see explored, and I think Amazon has the opportunity to create a wonderful world of complex pirate dynamics and rebellions.
Overall, I enjoyed “The Bluff” as much as I had expected to, even if some of the character development wasn’t as fleshed out as it could have been. “The Bluff” was gripping, action-packed, and full of chaotic pirate action, and was an exciting watch. Let this be a statement to the studios to start greenlighting more pirate films; they need to make a comeback.