Tom Hardy unchained...

Make no mistake, Bronson is not a movie for everyone. The true story of England's Michael Peterson, who  adopts the name "Charlie Bronson" in his quest to become England's most violent prisoner, which seems to be his sole purpose in life. Directed by Danish-American filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising), Bronson takes the story of one of England's most notorious inmates and delivers a surreal, over-the-top opera of mayhem that will remind you more than once of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Bronson moves from prison to asylum to prison, looking to brawl and attack at every opportunity. A series of narrations have him telling his story to an audience like some Cabaret burlesque performer. Though Bronson is very much true story, it's not told like a conventional biopic. Refn looks for any opportunity to depict things through a garish, distorted lens, bare-knuckle violence leading the way.

The reason to see Bronson is the unbelievable performance of Tom Hardy. His transformation is nothing short of astonishing, head shaved, handlebar mustache, he looks like a weightlifter from another century, always on edge, his cockeyed smile always looking for an opportunity to burst into flames as he launches himself at his next group of opponents. His motives are a complete mystery, other than some deep ambition to distinguish himself as the most psychotic inmate that England has ever seen.

Bronson is an incredibly strange movie, but Hardy is so charismatic and ferocious you can't stop watching. He's delivered a completely hypnotic performance and it's going to be fascinating to see what he does as Bane in Christopher Nolan's next Batman movie.