Rebel Ridge Gives Netflix A Modern Rambo

By Shanna Mathews-Mendez | Published

rebel ridge

Rebel Ridge, a new movie coming to Netflix on September 6, not only looks gritty, thrilling, and intense, but it also looks a bit like a Rambo reboot. The good guy looks awesome, the bad guys look terrifying, and the storyline looks like a great update.

Take a look at the trailer to see what Rebel Ridge is all about:

I grew up watching Rambo and all of its sequels. The idea that one man can go against a corrupt system that feels otherwise omnipotent has always fascinated me. It’s why I loved Law Abiding Citizen with Gerard Butler and even Jon Bernthal as The Punisher.

A guy with a particular set of skills and a mission can take down corruption makes for great storytelling, and as a bonus, he’s just a human! No superpowers. Rebel Ridge looks like it’s following this winning formula. 

Jeremy Saulnier is a masterful writer and director, having produced such gems as Blue Ruin and Green Room, which turned out to be independent darlings.

From the trailer, it looks like Rebel Ridge takes place in a small town in America, where a man named Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre), is trying to pay bail for his cousin who sits in jail. On his way, with cash, he’s pulled over by two cops who seize his $250,000 in cash and say they’re “going to hold onto it.” With no recourse, Terry goes to the police department to file a complaint, where he’s met by the two officers and the chief of police, Sandy Burn (Don Johnson), who in no uncertain terms tell Terry he won’t be getting his money back and that he needs to leave.

The thrills in Rebel Ridge take place when Terry decides to take matters into his own hands. The trailer looks very Rambo-esque, with the cops finding out that Terry used to be a highly specialized Marine, and Terry staging a coup of sorts against the entire police force. Meanwhile, AnnaSophia Robb plays a court clerk trying to help him out from the legal standpoint.

For the action junkies among us, there look to be plenty of fights, lots of explosions, and smart dialogue.

Check out the trailer for Rebel Ridge and get ready for the movie’s Netflix premiere on September 6.

It can be no accident that writer and director Jeremy Saulnier wrote Terry as a Black man and the entire police force as white men in Rebel Ridge. The casting seems to be a careful selection as well; Don Johnson, David Denman, and James Badge Dale have all proven themselves to play the smarmy, self-important villain extremely well. We also have good reason to believe this won’t be just another “whatever” movie from Netflix, like Trigger Warning and The Union recently ended up being.

Saulnier is a masterful writer and director, having produced such gems as Blue Ruin and Green Room, which turned out to be independent darlings. He also directed two season 3 episodes of True Detective, which was by far the best run of the series.

rebel ridge
Rebel Ridge, the next film by Jeremy Saulnier, comes to Netflix September 6th.

The idea that we can tell a story that has held true time and again — the Black man as victim of a white system — and flip it on its head without making it entirely about race, is an exciting one. Systemic racism is very real, but corruption is also prevalent at every level of government, and in many cases it’s color blind. Rambo gave us an early example of this reality, and Rebel Ridge is giving us a modern version.

But it’s a feeling we’ve all had at one time or another — “this isn’t fair, but I have no control over the outcome because the government has all the power.”

The thrills in Rebel Ridge take place when Terry decides to take matters into his own hands.

Here’s hoping Rebel Ridge brings all the members of its audience together and that Aaron Pierre can be the hero Sylvester Stallone was to us all. Injustice is injustice no matter who the victim is. And we know we’re making real progress when we can identify with an oppressed citizen who may not look like us but who experiences the same pain points we all do at varying times of our lives.

Check out the trailer for Rebel Ridge and get ready for the movie’s Netflix premiere on September 6.

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