Essentially, this is a movie about a photographer and writer who interviews Kathy Bauer [Comer] long time girlfriend on a biker [Butler] who opens the world up to the beginnings of biker clubs that eventually turn into biker gangs. The setting is the late 1960s on through the 1970s and there’s a lot that Bauer recalls about the first formation of the local biker club called “The Vandals.” Initially, the club was created for dudes who looked cool on bikes and had a place to shoot pool, smoke, drink beer, pick up hot women, and ride. As the Vietnam War came to a close, new bike clubs start to form and things start getting a little more serious as bike clubs start turning into bike gangs. From there, a loss of morality and fun ruins good things as biker punks begin to take over, ending the era of just good old guys riding around and enjoying a simple hobby with good friends.
THE GOOD - There are lots of classic cars and motorcycles that will make any person drool over what is shown in this film. Mostly shot in small towns in Ohio, the transformation of the set locations were pretty impressive. There are a lot of cameos from various actors who seem to be working together from one film to another.
THE BAD - There’s very little dialog that happens throughout the film as Bauer [Comer] is narrating throughout most of the feature. Tom Hardy seems dry in his performance as he tries to stay dramatic and perform somewhere in the realm of a young Marlon Brando. I’m not completely sure that Austin Butler had more than 15 lines in this film, outside of being beat up and maimed throughout most of the film.
POST MORTEM - For being a “biker film” with a PG13 rating, this film failed to show any real biking or any real danger, except a few scenes were the cast was seen driving in a rag tag group on the same patch of road. There’s no romance, no action, NOTHING! The pacing is slow and there’s really no real action in this film to speak of, except a few fights that were too short with nothing really to make note of. The film was presented in a documentary-type format that actually made me nod off from time to time. If it wasn’t for this classic bikes and cars in this film, there wouldn’t be much more to look at or admire. I was somewhat disappointed.
⭐️⭐️💫 [2.5 of 5 Stars]
