The Bikeriders movie review: Tom Hardy shines in this movie about men and their motorcycles

The film sees no need to explain who or why they are, just putting them out there – and we are supposed to do so as well. Writer-director Jeff Nichols has crafted a fictional story inspired by a photo-book of the same name as The Bikeriders, by Danny Lyon. In the film, Mike Faist fills in for Lyon, acting as a college student who is trying to capture the lives of the Vandals with Kathy as the narrator.

The fact that we don’t know the backstory of the Vandals is disconcerting for the first half of the film, especially as it is driven by their loyalty to each other and especially to their leader, Johnny (Hardy). His word is their command, their lives are spent talking, walking and dreaming motorcycles, and there is little life throws their way that can’t be handled by the thunderous roar of their bike engines.

It’s almost in the same manner that Kathy meets Benny, having walked into a bar across town and run into Vandals. “A respectable woman”, as she calls herself, Kathy is not used to being among such a raucous, openly flirtatious and “gamely” touchy group of men, and feels nervous and wants to leave. But one glance of Benny (a hot, hot Butler) bent over the pool table, his muscled bare arms glistening, his blonde hair framing a beautiful face, is all it takes to melt all her good intentions.

Soon, she is at the back of Benny’s bike and, as the Vandals race down an expressway, Kathy admits “it took my breath away”. She leans just so against Benny’s shoulder, ready to move the few remaining centimetres and rest her cheek there.

If this half of the film is a set-up, it’s what happens when the club expands (not really clear why it holds such attraction), other elements get mixed in, Johnny realises things are slipping out of his control, and when his disappointment at Benny’s reluctance to take over from him grows (with a frowning Kathy holding Benny back), that The Bikeriders comes into its own.

To a great deal that has to do with Hardy’s handling of the complex role of Johnny, a reluctant leader who has little comprehension of what he is bringing together and where it is meant to go, but who clearly sees and understands the waxing and waning of power dynamics. The group also has a clear realisation of how the others see them – as something “unpleasant”, to be steered clear of – a fact that Johnny jostles with more than others.

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In comparison, Butler is no more than a presence as Benny, who is meant to be enigmatic but is more like a man-child handled with kid gloves by the two greatest loves of his life, Kathy and Johnny. A more ambitious film could have focused on this interesting love triangle of three equally charismatic actors.

As it is, we don’t really care much about any of them. And The Bikeriders is like that nice cross-country summer drive, wind in the hair, hands out of the window, but necks craving for a little something round the corner.

The Bikeriders movie director: Jeff Nichols
The Bikeriders movie cast: Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook
The Bikeriders movie rating: 2.5 stars