Film Review: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025): A Solid, Superbly Acted Dramatic Action Film That is Padded with Unnecessary Extended Scenes
One Battle After Another Review
One Battle After Another (2025) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall, Wood Harris, Alana Haim, Shayna McHayle, Starletta DuPois, Joe Silva, Tisha Sloan, John Hoogenakker and Tony Goldwyn.
Renowned filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, One Battle After Another, plays like an ambitious attempt at showing the power of a father/daughter bond while juxtaposing it against the conflicting politics of people in an uncertain world. This film is sometimes bloated, running over 2 and 1/2 hours, but has some remarkable performances to carry it through the slumps. Leonardo DiCaprio is featured as a man named Bob, a former revolutionary who is now raising his wise and opinionated daughter, Willa (the superb Chase Infiniti). There is a preliminary series of scenes that sets the stage for the development of the characters of Bob and Willa and they involve a truly psychotic military man, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn). Penn does much of the heavy lifting here in terms of chewing scenery and his performance is one of the great cinematic triumphs of recent years. Unfortunately, One Battle After Another, gets bogged down in a series of chase scenes that occasionally outwear their welcome.
This film opens with Steven J. Lockjaw’s interaction with the tough-as-nails, Perfidia (Teyana Taylor, always intriguing). Perfidia humiliates Steven by making him maintain an erection through an embarrassing hurdle that doesn’t end well. DiCaprio’s character is also present in scenes that correspond with the interaction between Perfidia and the Col. Eventually, the movie skips ahead to years later where Bob is an overprotective dad, questioning the friends that Willa associates with. Bob visits Willa’s school and meets with her teacher (well played by Tisha Sloan). While the action plot kicks in full force at a school dance that Willa attends, the movie never really gels in its early scenes. There’s too much going on and the dynamics of the plot development force the character development to be kept to a minimum. As the story line unfolds, the characters grow through a series of intense events, but the characters never feel as relatable as they could have been. Anderson keeps us at a distance from almost all the characters here for much of the movie, letting their stories unfold one plot detail at a time.
Benicio Del Toro often steals the movie as Sensei Sergio St. Carlos, who guides Bob on his quest to find his daughter after a series of events puts her life in grave danger. Willa ends up with some wild nuns at one point and is further shown to talk out TV show titles like “The Beverly Hillbillies” as some sort of connecting device while the action spirals out of control in an unpredictable manner. There are a few really great scenes where we’re led down some hilly roads as a tense car chase ensues with a particular man following Willa. Willa stops her car and gets out of it while the chaser bumps his car into hers…and well, I’ll let you see how the scenario plays out.
In the interim, DiCaprio’s character is hiding from the authorities with skateboarders and the Sensei who eventually takes him for a ride in a car for a bit until he makes Bob jump out of it to go find his daughter on his own. Meanwhile, Penn’s Col. is trying to see if he has a particular bond with Willa. That relationship could be more than meets the eye and Regina Hall’s Deandra gets some moments to shed tears trying to protect those she loves at all costs.
DiCaprio is forced to look confused much of the time, here jumping off buildings and hiding beside the Sensei until he eventually spends much of the movie driving around alone in search of Willa. DiCaprio plays the role well, but it’s certainly not the best work the actor has done. Nevertheless, there’s a quiet sadness in DiCaprio’s performance since his character is truly frightened at the prospect of losing the daughter he loves so much.
Chase Infiniti is solid gold as the daughter who is forced to fend for herself when pitted against the evil Col. and other various assorted goons. Infiniti brings a wide range of emotions to her role even if Anderson never really lets her come across as much more than a young woman fighting for her survival. We respect her, and Infiniti brings a lot more to the role than what’s on the page, making the performance a true highlight of the movie.
Del Toro has never been more intriguing, especially in a scene where the cops pull him over and he plays dumb to try to protect Bob and considerably help him out. Del Toro does some slick moves here and they’re quite humorous in the scene where the cops question him and the actor gets a few moments to steal the spotlight.
This is pretty much Penn’s movie to ultimately own, though. Penn almost literally explodes into character as he grabs DNA swabs to see if a certain someone is something more than they could be. Penn is volatile and fierce in a role that the actor grabs by the horns and never lets go of throughout the duration of the film.
There are a number of scenes that drag here, however. When the Col. is thought to be dead, the film further brings him back for a prolonged ending that could have been left on the cutting room floor. For a movie that runs over 2 and a 1/2 hours, there’s precious little going on past the initial stages of the film, making it more of a chase picture than anything else. It’s a decent chase film, overall, with compelling sequences that highlight Anderson’s unique and controversial film-making style. This movie comes closer to being more like Inherent Vice in terms of quality than the great Magnolia, though, in the way it unfolds and it’s not the director’s true masterpiece I was hoping it would be.
Still, One Battle After Another must be seen. While the heroes fight for the greater good and for justice above all else, the villain (Penn) fights against the common goal which complicates the layered plot and makes it very interesting. Penn’s performance plays like gangbusters in a movie that’s all over the place with its complex politics. Anderson’s film is only focused when it zeroes in on the father/daughter relationship between DiCaprio and Infiniti’s characters. As they face an “uphill” battle to reunite, audiences will enjoy the end results, but may look at their watches a few times over the course of the film due to a number of meandering scenes throughout. One Battle After Another is nothing short of a fascinating story about the true meaning of the word “family” and is a solid effort by the always intriguing Anderson. Infiniti’s “American girl” performance could lead her to an Oscar nod and Penn may want to start clearing off his mantelpiece for another acting trophy or two come awards season.
Rating: 7.5/10
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