The Order

The Order was a pretty average film that didn't quite live up to the weight of its subject matter. With such a serious and intense real-life inspiration, I expected a much more gripping, emotional, and thought-provoking story. Unfortunately, what we got was something that felt rushed in places and drawn out in others, with pacing that struggled to find consistency. The characters were underdeveloped and lacked emotional depth, making it hard to feel invested in their journey or motivations. Even the antagonist felt flat, which took away from the tension the film tried to build.

There were a few well-executed scenes-moments where the direction and cinematography showed real promise-but they were too few and far between. The tone also seemed confused at times, shifting awkwardly between thriller and drama without fully committing to either. It's the kind of movie that had all the pieces but couldn't quite put them together in a compelling way. Not terrible by any means, just very forgettable. I wouldn't warn people against watching it, but I wouldn't recommend it either.

The Order is a mostly paint-by-numbers crime drama with some solid execution.

I don't have too much to say about this film since it's actually not really stand-out in any way. It's at its best when focused on the life and times of members in The Order and fleshing out this world of the rural pacific northwest. Nicholas Hoult is having a hell of a year and this is another great performance to add to the resume for the year. Everyone is was just okay performance-wise but there has to be some blame on the writers for leaning so deeply into the hard-boiled detective tropes. Sometimes the FBI officers just act way too-cool-for-school and it shows some laziness on the writers' part. A nice foil to that is Jamie (Tye Sheridan) who does a fantastically accurate impression of a small town cop. I'll be a defector and say that I actually enjoyed the action sequences, and I like that details within action plot points have actual effect later in the story. I'm getting a lot of No Country For Old Men influence, and that's a good thing.

The film has a really good handle on itself with a steady mix of tension building and discovery until the third act in which themes muddy significantly. There was some kind of two-sides-of-the-same-coin subtheme being attempted in the end between Terry and Bob that didn't really work for me, and cops suddenly lose all the discipline they had earlier in the film to do action hero things. There is a whole lot of world building in the film that adds to the whole rural aesthetic but I wonder if it contributed to its slow pacing. The film certainly felt long for a less than 2 hour movie.

Enjoyable crime thriller with some salient themes of racism and uprising to think about.

I watched this because I have really enjoyed his other movies. I thought Nitram in particular was underrated because of its subject sensitive matter.

What Nitram did though, and this film never managed, was it made me look at things from a different perspective. The concept that the person behind a mass shooting is, exactly that, a person, is just nothing I had given consideration to before. Easier to label a monster (which they are, but there are reasons behind this) and move on than to think about it.

I guess therefore I was expecting to try and understand something here. Like it was going to say something. But in the end it felt very procedural. Some white guys are racist because they are and some other guy hunts them down because he does. Honestly, that's about it.

I never felt for a second like I understood anything about Nicholas Holts character or why he was a complete (insert word rhyming with duck) head. I guess there is an argument that you don't want to give oxygen but I feel this film maker has had a lot more to say in the past and if you aren't going to say anything then probably don't say anything at all.

Anyway, not offensive but just very very average.

I would say the movie is above average, but it's not a masterpiece

Jude Law is really good in his role as this weary and seasoned FBI agent. I like the supporting cast members. I think Nicholas Hault actually looks a lot like Bob Matthews (based on his picture, which I saw on Wiki), and the young sheriff who works with Jude Law is good too. The movie's scenery is gorgeous, with the forests, mountains, and lake. I like the score too. There is an overall dark and gritty vibe throughout the film

The movie doesn't reach greatness because of the plot and predictability. I know that the events are based on a true story, so I get that the plot was limited since they had to follow the events that really occurred (note: I had never heard of Bob Matthews or the Turner diaries until I watched this movie). But they telegraphed some events, such as one character's death, way too obviously. I also feel that the film could've given more about the villain's motivations other than "they're evil racist white men." The movie early on shows a divide between Bob Matthews group and another white supremacist group: the latter believes that the right way to push white supremacy is through legal means, such as getting white supremacists elected to office. I feel this plot thread could have been explored more. The police scenes include some cliches too

Lastly - there was no need to insert politics at the very end, with a reference to January 6th, 2021.

The Order is about Bob Matthews and his group referenced in the title that is on a small-town white power crusade. I was interested to see this movie because of the great cast and interesting twist including a few bank robberies. While it is super beautiful to look at and the main cast (Jude Law & Nicholas Hoult) do great, it didn't leave much of an impact on me. However, it was a fun time seeing it on the big screen.

The positives: The casting is great and the idaho landscape makes for beautiful shots. I really liked the exciting bank robbing parts as well as well as a being a grizzled detective drama. Bob Matthews is a interesting but vile character who has a weird personality of being a "family-man" and friendly but also blowing up p*rn theatres and killing innocents. I thought he was the best character in the movie, however the rest of the character's are pretty much one-note. I will get to that in the negatives, I also liked the score as well with it being very melodic but brooding at times (not your average detective drama score). The plot overall is fascinating and can be thrilling at times with well done robberies, chases, and some emotional moments.

Negatives: Like I said the characters besides Bob Matthews are pretty one note. I liked Jude law as a detective but he really dosen't do much except be the veteran grizzled detective with a young naive partner. The movie dosen't have the story structure to really make you care all that much about anyone. Sometimes scenes would bounce from one to another just to get to the next thrilling moments (which were solid). Also some dumb moments like a multiple moments where characters risk their lives in obvious situations where the cards are stacked against them and they don't need too.

All in all I would recommend if you wanna watch a pretty alright detective drama with some beautiful shots. I do not dislike the movie but its more of a vehicle for this great cast to handle a interesting story rather than interesting characters.