Rebel Ridge missing the sweet spot

Initially having high potential to develop into a thrilling action film, Rebel Ridge slowly turned into a story that leaves out the least expected of it with its rather obscure plot.

One of the most interesting parts of the film was when I saw a cop harass and exploit an innocent biker carrying cash with him. It set up motives for the victim to cause havoc later in the film. And with the victim (the main character) having military experience from his past, he would later cause problems for the police.

How a one-man army would be so problematic for the cops, who apparently were dirty, was what I was interested in seeing. The main character gives special-ops vibes that even made him more convincing. And so I expected to see some intense action drama.

While the film seemed to be developing fine for most of it, it just felt lacking. And that's generally because I kept waiting for when this military experience the main character had would actually come to play. But what we got didn't come close.

I didn't even quite get what Rebel Ridge means until it was explained in the film. Well, not explained, actually. Just turned out to be a place, and it didn't even seem relevant to the plot.

If you're able to process many of the parables said in this film and understand police ten codes, and don't expect much action, then the film is just fine. I would only say it has a rather static storyline that may or may not be confusing at some point.

I say parables because I really couldn't understand many of the dialogues in the film. It was almost like having someone say things to me that I couldn't hear or understand, and I would simply act like I could, just so we could move on.

And the main character was presented as a really experienced combat expert, like he had super powers. But really, most of what he seemed to be very good at other than handling the guns well and being strong was maintaining composure under pressure.

The plot would have been okay without the incomprehensible dialogues and legal jargon if it had more meat in the drama.

At some point in the film, one character kept changing sides. I didn't even know what to make of that, but it made it a bit challenging to follow the narrative. Or maybe I just didn't get the point there.

And how we went from pursuit to escort in the film, I'm not sure I quite followed. The film just ended with the bad guys surrendering, and that was just it.

Rebel Ridge really did have the potential to become something more and provide a thrilling action experience, but it just didn't develop with its plot, characters, and dialogue.