The Bluff review: Brutal Priyanka Chopra gives Animal a run for her money, but this mediocre pirate movie is a shipwreck

The Bluff is the story of Ercel Borden (Priyanka), a fisherman who lives with his son and sister-in-law in an Eden-esque town in the Caribbean. Her husband, sailor T.H. Borden (Ismael Cruz Córdova), is captured by a notorious pirate named Connor (Karl Urban), who now hunts him down to settle old scores. Arcel must reconnect with a past she has long left behind and transform into Bloody Mary, a pirate legend to protect her family.

Almost like Die Hard, the film presents Priyanka as both a legend and an underdog. It does the latter because of its size and frame. She is almost always much smaller than all the male pirates she encounters, including formidable antagonist Karl Urban. But the story gives him Jason Bourne-like skills to make up for it, turning him into a legend we can root for. This is the USP of the film. It takes us into this very slim, clean world where only Priyanka commands our attention.

The Bluff is brutal, Rated R is brutal. Blood flows freely, organs are torn off and scattered liberally around, and the hero finds himself tearing through opponents with great ease, like Uma Thurman’s bride. One nice thing about the film is its bold, unapologetic approach to violence. It is a by-product of the violent lives lived by the characters. The violence shocks you because it takes place in an idyllic setting of landscape, where people are isolated from this intense brutality. It also reminds you of the horrors of the world.

But beyond that brutality lies a predictable, formulaic plot that could have been a short film. The film doesn’t have enough power to pack a feature-length punch without being repetitive and filled with tropes. You can see every plot twist and character death from a mile away, and it’s not like the film tries to hide them. It openly uses tropey set pieces to move the narrative forward. The Bluff hopes to do this in a way so clever and shockingly violent that one forgets the inadequacies of the plot. To be fair, Tarantino has excelled at this. But Flowers is no Quentin and The Bluff is no Kill Bill. It fails to rise above the mediocrity imposed upon itself, remaining immersed in it throughout its 2-hour runtime.

Priyanka Chopra is the shining spark amidst all this – well, her and the heavy action that comes every time she appears on the screen. Priyanka must be aware of the rise of ultraviolent action films in her homeland over the past few years. To call The Bluff an attempt to capitalize on that trend would be a stretch, as the target audience here is truly international. But someone draws parallels with Marcos and Animales in his house. Mary is every bit as cruel and unforgiving as Ranbir’s Ranvijay and Unni’s Marco. But she has the advantage of being played by Priyanka Chopra, who brings an uncharted territory, sensitivity and tenderness to the piece. She is excellent in action and also manages to make the audience believe that she can be so cruel. But Priyanka’s real triumph in The Bluff is her ability to retain the humanity of her character, which is rare in this genre. It’s a shame that this happens in a movie that is otherwise pretty pedestrian.

The Bluff ruins a brilliant artist. Looks like Karl Urban is still stuck in the Billy Butcher zone. Everything from his behavior to his delivery is a mere shadow of the character he has been playing in The Boys for the last half decade. Temuera Morrison’s Lee is never established as that badass, or given the scope to show that badass. Ismael Cruz Córdova, a fine actor, is wasted in a two-bit role that is lost in the mayhem.

The Bluff’s biggest loss lies not with the audience, but with its genre and action films with female heroes. They deserve better films. For now, this movie is passable at this level due to the poor execution of a good idea.

The Bluff will release on Amazon Prime Video on February 25.