TL;DR – While the story might not have the strength of wind behind the sails, the action and setting make up for it.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service to view this film.

The Bluff Review Introduction –

Today I was thinking that I have not seen a good Pirate action-adventure film. Well, call me surprised to find that when I opened Amazon Prime tonight, I found that a new film starring Priyanka Chopra and Karl Urban had landed, promising to do just that. Well, there is no time like the present to dive in and see if it works or not.   

So, to set the scene, in crashing waves and the gale of a storm, a pirate vessel is making its way through the Caribbean Sea in the tail end of the Era of Pirates in 1846. In the gloom, it finds its prey, a merchant vessel Swiftsure with a curious captain, Theodor H. Bodden (Ismael Cruz Córdova), holding gold marked with their pirate brand of Captain Connor (Karl Urban). Gold, they got in the small town of Cayman Brac. But while Cayman Brac looks inconsequential, it holds many secrets, and Ercell Bodden (Priyanka Chopra) is no sailor’s wife, well, she is, but she’s also a lot more.  

Swashbuckling Adventure

For you to have a truly grand swashbuckling adventure, you need cast members who are bigger than life and can make an impact. It is for that reason that you absolutely cast Priyanka Chopra and Karl Urban. They bring all the swing, punches and wild moments that you need in a film like this. Basically, they are kickass, and it is enjoyable to watch them do it. There are lots of things you need to make a film like this work: swords, sails, cannons, and some booty or treasure. The Bluff has all of that, but you can feel like it almost got to where it needed to go from a thematic perspective, but never quite got there. It just needed a touch more substance under the hood to give the action scenes more impact. So, we get a solid watch carried by charismatic leads, but it is not a film that defines the genre so much that I would need to watch it again.  

Action

A lot of the action, especially in the opening calamity on the island, is a different style of action than I have seen in a swashbuckler for a while. In contrast, there are still a lot of guns and cannons and all that jazz. The Bluff moved more to knives and swords, and not in the fancy duelling like you would see in say The Princess Bride, it is daggers and blades, and up close, brutal, and bloody. It feels more in line with, say, Cutthroat Island, if they could have gotten away with the R-rating. While it is distinctive, it only goes part of the way it needed to go to make a film like this work. However, it might have one of the better stealth sequences in modern cinema.    

Production

Overall, the production of the film is quite strong, with some quality set and location work bringing the island of Cayman Brac alive, and ground the more gritty style of the film. I liked the pirate cave system, which didn’t make sense logically, but it tugged at my nostalgia as it reminded me of one of those caverns in Skyrim. I did like Henry Jackman’s musical score, as if they had taken the instruments of that time and electrified them. I will say that this Caribbean island looks very much like Australia, specifically the rainforests that I can find about an hour’s drive from my house. Also, I’m reasonably sure that caimans don’t grow that large, but given the tone of the film, you can always let things like that slide.  

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend The Bluff? Look, it is not going to be a hallmark of the genre, but it was a solid watch. Priyanka Chopra and Karl Urban eat up the screen, and besides a couple of annoying characters that could have been a touch less annoying, there were no major issues to find.  

Have you watched The Bluff? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked The Bluff, we would recommend The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure to you because it also takes you into a world of pirates and adventure, but with a Korean twist.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Bluff
Directed by – Frank E. Flowers
Written by – Joe Ballarini & Frank E. Flowers
Music by – Henry Jackman
Cinematography by – Greg Baldi
Edited by – Lisa Lassek
Production/Distribution Companies – AGBO, Cinestar Pictures, Big Indie Pictures, Purple Pebble Pictures, Amazon MGM Studios & Amazon Prime
Starring – Priyanka Chopra Jones, Karl Urban, Safia Oakley-Green, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Temuera Morrison, Vedanten Naidoo, David Field,
With – Greg Hatton, Pacharo Mzembe, Gideon Mzembe, Zack Morris, & Gary Beadle,
Rating – Australia: MA15+;