In an action sequence that occurs very early on in Frank E. Flowers’ The Bluff, Priyanka Chopra changes into a 19th-century Navy SEAL equivalent, easily eliminating lethal pirates. At that point, the movie comes to life, but tragically, as soon as PC stops kicking butt, it dies again. This is essentially the plot of The Bluff, which mostly revolves around its female lead and squanders a strong cast, an intriguing idea, and fantastic action on a relatively mediocre action movie that is forgettable rather than excellent.
The Bluff tells the tale of Ercell Borden (Priyanka), a fishwife who lives with her son and sister-in-law in a Caribbean village reminiscent of Eden. A legendary pirate named Connor (Karl Urban) has taken her husband, sailor TH Borden (Ismael Cruz Córdova), and is now pursuing her to exact revenge. In order to defend her family, Ercell must re-establish a connection with a past she had long since left behind and change into the legendary pirate Bloody Mary.
Priyanka is portrayed in this nearly Die Hard-style movie as both an underdog and a legend. Because of her size and shape, it does the latter. Almost all of the male pirates she encounters, especially the powerful foe Karl Urban, are significantly larger than her. However, the story compensates for that by giving her Jason Bourne-like abilities, making her a hero we can support. The USP of the movie is that. It draws us into this sterile, razor-thin universe where Priyanka is the only thing that captures our interest.
Beyond that cruelty, however, is a formulaic and predictable plot that may have been a short film. The movie lacks enough substance to constitute a full-length feature without getting cliched and repetitious. Every plot twist and character death is obvious, and the movie doesn’t even try to hide them. It freely employs the clichéd set pieces to advance the plot. The Bluff aims to accomplish this in a way that is so sleek and startlingly violent that the shortcomings of the plot are forgotten. To be fair, Tarantino has done a great job with that. However, The Bluff is not Kill Bill, and Flowers is not Quentin.
Between her and the intense action that always breaks out on screen, Priyanka Chopra is the only bright spot in the middle of everything. Priyanka must be aware of the recent surge in violent action movies in her native country. Since The Bluff’s target audience is genuinely global, it would be unrealistic to describe it as an attempt to capitalize on that trend. However, comparisons to the Marcos and Animals back home are made. Like Unni’s Marco and Ranbir’s Ranvijay, Mary is equally cruel and vindictive. However, she has the benefit of being portrayed by Priyanka Chopra, who offers tenderness and sensitivity—unprecedented in this field.
The Bluff throws away a pretty good cast. It appears that Karl Urban is still trapped in the Billy Butcher zone. His demeanor and delivery are merely a reflection of the role he has been portraying in The Boys for the previous six months. Lee, played by Temuera Morrison, is never seen to be the badass he is or given the opportunity to act like one. A talented actor, Ismael Cruz Córdova, is squandered on a two-bit role that gets lost in the chaos.
The largest detriment Not to the audience, but to its genre and action movies with female leads, is what The Bluff does. They are worthy of better movies. For the time being, this movie is deserving of being criticized for its poor implementation of a clever concept.
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