Killers of the Flower Moon is a frustrating movie to watch
Ugh. Just ugh! Literally ugh!
Let me tell you how most Martin Scorsese movies go. In the beginning there’s a guy who always hangs around with the wrong kind of people and inevitably gets involved with some sort of crime. Years pass and life is good for the guy, crime is happening and benefits are rolling in. Then the law catches up and everyone turns on each other. Before you know it, the guy ends up in jail. A reflective introspective period ensues until the guy leaves crime and ends up sad, alone, and regretful.
When I saw the trailers I thought this movie was going to be something different. I thought I would see a different side of American history, representation from native american tribes in cinema, a complicated moral story, but no. For a 3 and a half hour movie, I would say 90% of it was on Leo and Robert De Niro. They introduced new actors from diverse backgrounds but did not give them the space to shine. Instead everyone but Leo and Robert were clueless victims with most scenes showing them mourning over victims. White people kill native americans and a movie about native americans become one where white people have most of the screentime with native americans in the background mourning their loss. Frustrating.
It is ironic that Scorsese spends time going after Marvel movies for how they are formulaic when his movies are so much so. Described above is basically literally the plot for the movie. As I watched more and more of the movie I thought this can’t be it right? There’s got to be a career defining twist, something that breaks out the mold. But no, it was same old Scorsese. The marketing got me and I spent the money and sat through 3 and a half hours. Don’t make the same mistake I made. Just wait till it comes out on streaming platforms and put it on in the background.
