Hostiles Reviews

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Neftlix, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even though Scott Cooper had so far a really nice track-record and even though this project definitely had some potential, to be honest, I can’t say I was really impressed though. I mean, to be fair, it wasn’t bad at all. Indeed, the whole thing looked really genuine and Cooper managed to deliver a nice dark mood (the first scene was especially really brutal). Basically, it seems that Cooper wanted with this movie to show that the war between the Indians and the White people was highly traumatizing for this country following some massive massacres done by both sides (however, back then, only the Indian people and culture did end up being completely wiped out in the process though). Anyway, even if this concept had potential, the whole thing was just too long and too slow. However, what bothered me the most was how the main characters evolved. Indeed, Rosamund Pike’s character went through the most awful experience and, as a result, she couldn’t stand Indians which was understandable. However, it did last for only 5 minutes and, afterwards, she seemed to get along fine with them rather too easily. An even bigger issue was the evolution displayed by Christian Bale’s character. Indeed, the guy was pretty much a butcher who hated the Indians with a vengeance and who despised his last mission to bring this Indian chief to his ancestral grounds. Of course, it was pretty obvious that he would get a change of heart but this process was never properly displayed. Seriously, it was rather weird to see this guy suddenly calling the Indian chief ‘my friend’ towards the end and it was even harder to swallow to see how they tried to turn this butcher into some kind of hero fighting for the Indian cause. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn’t completely sold, it was still a well made Western and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.