One Battle After Another is the latest film directed by legendary filmmaker, Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA). PTA is known for having these odd movies such as, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood and more. and with such a hit after hit filmography for many movie fans, any new movie he makes will naturally have hype around it. So, question is: Is this another masterpiece by PTA?

Anyway, this movie is about a man who, was a part of a revolution group called the French 75, trying to get his daughter back when his past catches up to him. This is a pretty simple idea, as there’s many movies like this. So, what stands out? What makes this movie different from the rest? Why would PTA make a movie like this?

Starting with the positives, Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro are as charming as ever, and Sean Penn gives an amazing performance as the antagonist of this film and Chase Infiniti is a new face that absolutely kills it. The writing is very creative with the dialogue and had my theater laughing with the comedy. The characters all have personality that makes you enjoy almost every one of them. But what makes this movie stand out, is how it talks about racism with the group that Sean Penn’s character is trying to join, where they hate anyone other than pure white American, and it’s done so well to where it’s not preachy and you can just enjoy the movie. Also, the action is fun.

With the mixed, Teyana Taylor’s character has me confused on how to feel, while her character is important to the story and makes this movie more interesting. But on the other hand, while she makes the movie more interesting, her character just isn’t likeable. So, I’m conflicted with this character. Hopefully they’ll be better with a rewatch.

Overall, One Battle After Another is an amazing movie. It’s not a perfect movie like how the internet is making it out to be, but it is a very good movie. I’m giving this movie a 4.5/5 and would recommend seeing it in theaters.