It was only a few weeks ago that Prime Video released “The Wrecking Crew”, a straight-to-streaming action comedy that seemed custom made for theaters. Now a month later they’ve released another streaming feature that I imagine would have played extremely well on the big screen. While it’s a bummer for those of us who love that experience, the movies look to be big successes on their platforms meaning this trend is likely to continue.
“The Bluff” is a pulpy action-packed swashbuckler that takes the fun of other high seas pirate adventures and laces it with the brutal and bloody action of an old-time B-movie. It turns out to be an interesting combination as director Frank E. Flowers removes the playful, romanticized buccaneer veneer to make a high-energy, no-nonsense foray into a genre we rarely see these days.
Co-written by Flowers and Joe Ballarini, “The Bluff” is set 1846 as the era of the pirates sailing the Caribbean Sea is coming to its end. Only the most brutal marauders remain, such as the notorious Captain Francisco Connor (played by a devilishly fun Karl Urban). In the film’s brief prologue we see Connor’s massive galleon overtake a smaller brigantine. His pirates ransack the ship and kill the crew, sparing only one man, T.H. Bodden (Ismael Cruz Córdova), who possesses a gold bar bearing Connor’s mark.
After studying the ship’s logs, the determined Connor orders his dutiful quartermaster (Temuera Morrison) to set sail for the tiny island of Cayman Brac where he believes T.H. has hidden the rest of his gold. Cayman Brac is an emancipated British colony with a small, tight-knit community living a quiet and peaceful life. Among them is T.H.’s wife, Ercell (Chopra Jonas) who eagerly awaits the return of her husband along with their son Isaac (Vedanten Naidoo) and her sister-in-law Elizabeth (Safia Oakley-Green).
But when Connor and his raiders arrive instead, the island is plunged into violent chaos. “No one leaves this island until I collect my property,” he bellows. Yet when Connor’s siege brings his pirates to Ercell’s front door, it unleashes a dark past that she has worked hard to bury. What follows is a blood-soaked battle across the island as Ercell tries to protect those dearest to her while settling some old scores with a ruthless enemy.
Zoe Saldaña was originally cast to play Ercell, but Chopra Jones more than fills those shoes. She makes Ercell her own, with a convincing physicality and stunning ferocity. The action scenes are impeccably choreographed and shot, often fueled by a brutality that adds to the intensity. Chopra Jones excels throughout, whether she’s throwing fists or wielding a cutlass. Meanwhile Urban savors every surly second, giving the film a straightforward but wickedly entertaining antagonist.
While “The Bluff” brims with thrilling action and electric set pieces, the story remains pretty bare-bones. Yet it’s littered with great faces, rich period detail, and scenic vistas (with the Gold Coast in Queensland filling in for the Cayman Islands). And despite not having a lot of meat on its bones, the script is constantly propelling itself forward without ever bogging down or feeling repetitive. Altogether it makes for an surprisingly visceral experience that is enjoyable from start to finish.
