I walked into the theater jacked to the gills for this one. Roughly three hours later, I exited the theater STILL jacked to the gills, but with a little stiffer back. (Bless those heated recliner seats though). I generally temper my expectations due to the obvious fact that things, whether it’s a film or whatnot, don’t often live up to the hype you create in your own mind or what what you read prior to your first viewing. This one, however, delivered.

One Battle After Another is latest from Paul Thomas Anderson, who’s brought us gems like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will be Blood and Licorice Pizza, amongst others. PTA has become a storyteller whose works really make us reflect on who we are as people and how we would react in various difficult scenarios, but at the same time, also who we are as a society. This film is PTA at his most poignant, because not everything works out in the end and there will be regret (not blood), but there’s also a sense of justified righteousness. It’s not easy to look at one’s past and and not lament a great deal of it, but it’s how you proceed through your experiences and what your priorities as are in regard to family, morality and a sense of duty. That’s the emotional takeaway I had from this film.

Now let’s get down to the nuts and bolts. One Battle After Another hits the ground running and keeps you engaged throughout its entire runtime of 2 hours and 40 minutes. If you know me, you know I’m a fan of long run times if what ends up on screen is useful. The editing is superb and you feel the tension pretty much from start to finish. The decision to film this in VistaVision was a solid one, following the example of The Brutalist, but it’s also not essential to see it on an IMAX-sized screen to fully absorb its energy. The sound is explosive, as is the score. Both do every scene justice in regard to mirroring the tension or action of each scene, climaxing with an absolutely brilliant and creatively shot car chase sequence. Unlike traditional car chase sequences, this one lets the vehicles and drivers do less work, and lets the camerawork carry each frame. It’s quite the visual experience and perfectly reflects the proceedings, using the terrain of the locations to give you an almost hypnotic first-person point-of-view.

Now that we’ve set the tone, let’s get a little deeper into the film and its characters . One Battle After Another begins with the raid of an immigrant detention center by the fictional extreme-left group the “French 75”. The intended protagonists of this group are made up of several characters, but none more compelling than our main characters, “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio), an explosives expert and Perfidia Beverly Hills, who is played like a force of nature by Teyana Taylor. She really brings the metal to her character and stands out, even while sharing the screen with superstars like DiCaprio and Sean Penn, who portrays the overly intense, and enigmatic in ways, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw. Penn, himself, creates a pretty terrifying character who will stop at nothing to not only seek and destroy the French 75, but is motivated by attaining status as part of a particular group, which in itself makes him a grotesque figure. All three actors make their characters larger than life on screen, with the help of Benicio Del Toro, Chase Infiniti and Regina Hall in supporting roles. The only gripe I may have with this movie, is the fact that Teyana Taylor’s character is only with us for the prologue, which is roughly the first thirty minutes of the film, with the remaining story dealing with the fallout of her actions in one form or another. Benicio Del Toro is probably the only character in this movie who’s not running on all cylinders, which makes him a perfect yin to DiCaprio’s neurotic and paranoid yang in the scenes they share. DiCaprio transforms from passionate renegade Pat Calhoun to reclusive burnout, Bob Ferguson, but when his daughter’s (Infiniti) well-being is threatened, then he’s turns back into a bumbling madman with a resumed passion, albeit for finding his daughter rather than “the cause”. Chase Infiniti is terrific as Willa, Bob’s teenage daughter, who tries to balance a normal life at that age, with the paranoia and emotional baggage her father exhibits on a daily basis. She looks very natural in her scenes with DiCaprio and especially Penn, who she has sort of a mental standoff with. Her character holds it together even in the most dire of situations she finds herself in. The remaining cast are basically bit characters to hold and move the plot along.

Unlike some Paul Thomas Anderson films, this one wraps up pretty accordingly and in a satisfying manner. The pacing doesn’t make you feel the run time and the ending isn’t ambiguous but also isn’t wrapped up neatly in a bowtie either. You feel, or at least I felt comfortable considering the journey. This film’s release is at quite an intriguing time considering the subject matter. Anderson really makes us look in the mirror as a country and how extremism on both ends can negatively affect us all. It’s definitely worth a view, not only via streaming when it’s released, but on the big screen. The performances are spot-on as is the writing, cinematography and editing. Add that up and you have one hell of a film. It may not be PTA’s best, but you can certainly make a case and I would not argue. If you made it to the end of this, a big thank you and hopefully I didn’t spoil very much.