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Hostiles - 3/4
A powerfully storied yet slightly repetitive western with an incredible cast all working well enough to overpower the unrepentantly cliche'd delivery. Yes it's obvious in parts, even down to the blatantly copied dialogue from "Unforgiven"("I've killed just about everything that walked or crawled") but it is an offering in homage to the genre and you can tell it's all done with honest intentions.
Christian Bale plays a war weary army captain against Wes Studi's cancer beaten, battle scarred Cheyenne chief with Rosamund Pike tagging along as the damsel in distress. Support is provided by none other than Jesse Plemons, Ben Foster, Adam Beach, Stephen Lang and Rory Cochrane. It is packed with proven talent and none of the support is wasted, each plays an important part in the story so it has a very well established tone and rapport amongst the talent.
Unfortunately the story is entirely predictable. It's a tale of opposition, forced cohesion and ultimately redemption with an air of uncertainty.
You can connect the dots from the first introduction of each character but you're being given great performances across the cast so it's like having a top chef cook you a tasty burger. It's safe in practiced hands but it shouldn't knock your socks off if you have eaten out before.
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