The Last Duel; Grade: B
The Last Duel tells a story about a woman named Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) whom accuses Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) of raping her, while Marguerite’s husband Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) was away. Jean believes in his wife’s allegations, as Jean challenges Jacques to a duel to the death, as God will decide their fate.
The Last Duel so far on it’s second week of release made 18 mill worldwide, on a 100 million dollar budget… So we can officially declared this film bombed at the box office. Despite the film having a talented well known cast and a well known iconic director, there is much confusion on why this film bombed?! It’s worth noting this film released around the same time Halloween Kills released and a week later arguably the most anticipated film of the entire year Dune came out, so it pretty much wiped out any attention made for the film.
More of the reason I believe is because Movie Goers of today only attend the theater, when it’s films their familiar with, rather than actually going to the theater to see something good or even having a new experience. Now a days it’s rare for movie goers to flock to the theaters when it’s not a comic book movie, a Disney property, or a remake/reboot of an existing film of the past. I for one just want to watch good films PERIOD, but more importantly I want new stories to be told on screen, because eventually being delivered the same thing over and over will get tiresome and boring.. Which is why I’ll never understand today’s movie goers at all. It’s such a shame because The Last Duel is a film worth seeing in theaters.
The Last Duel in a way felt like I was in a court room like experience, as I heard each main characters testimony on what had happened prior to that horrific event taken place. Each act consists of a main character telling their own side of the story, giving much indication as what went on in their own mind when these events happened. It was kind of refreshing being given this experience, as when you analyst their own side of the stories, you understand their frame of mind and you can put the pieces in as to what really is the truth.
Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer all had great performances, making them a well casted trio, as they were quite commanding in their roles. The story at hand was fairly paced, creating not only an intriguing drama but also an exciting action film as well. Was surprised how brutal the action sequences were, delivering such authentic medieval times of sword fights and especially jousting. I enjoyed the costume design as well, set design was pretty gnarly, and I believe there was a solid score at hand as well.
My major flaw with this film is the film indicating ones character side of the story is the truth. Now the film maker has every right to have their own point of view, I even agree with his point of view. However the film should refrain from telling the audience what is believed to be the truth from all sides of these characters stories. Let the audience see and hear their testimonies and let them decide, without having the film tell them who is found to be the most believed.
Overall, The Last Duel was a dope film. I highly recommend checking this one out! -Mitch Smietana