Great Film overall

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This film is very well done. I can see why a lot of people compare it to Refn's Bronson. Both revolve around psychopaths who spend the majority of the film inside of a cell block.As expected with Andrew Dominik, the dialogue and cinematography are extremely well done. His transition shots are damn near flawless and the tongue and cheek dialogue is fun while keeping the audience interested. He also does some neat little things to allow the audience to see the film through Choppers perspective. Eric Bana gives a stellar performance (better than Munich in my opinion). With all the weigh he put on, he seems larger than life on the screen (with credit also going to Dominik for the "Larger then life" personality of Chopper). Fair warning though, Their are some parts that are not for the light stomached, but definitely a movie I would suggest to watch.

Before this film, I didn't know anything about Mark "Chopper" Read or his notorious background, so I just looked at this as entertainment and nothing more, not anything educational.As a piece of entertainment, Chopper definitely works. The language, the culture, the style is all very prevalent and established by the filmmaking and acting, and Bana more or less carries the film with his performance.If there are any complaints, that would be it, there aren't enough other noteworthy characters in the film, nobody who commands the scene and attention like Chopper, but I suppose that was the point.It's more subtle and realistic than many crime flicks, with not many shootouts and a few very clever ways to convey the events of this part of Read's torrid and insane life. Even if it's not factual, Bana definitely gives you a sense of how this man just cannot stop getting himself into trouble. He's lovable yet awful, an interesting thug, and definitely memorable. If you're looking for a good character piece, go with Chopper.

The movie thrived on the excellent character work Bana did in his interpretation of Chopper. It made the film, no doubt about it. The beginning was great, it really portrayed chopper's intensity and charismatic way of going about his insanity. This continues to develop perfectly as he muscles his way about the incoming event's caused by his own demented actions. Still keeping my interest through to the end i did find it went in somewhat of a strange and almost off topic manner. This all leading to a mildly unsatisfying and weak ending. Although it is understandable considering its based off of a real story. And forgivable because it was extremely entertaining. all in all it was an excellent movie.

In telling the story of Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, one of Australia's most famous criminals, the script combined Read's own autobiographical bestseller with what actually happened, which makes for an interesting, sometimes confusing blend of reality and invention. That mix makes for a very interesting watch, even if there's not enough material for a satisfying film; it could have been a thirty-minute film and achieved about the same level of success, and it doesn't leave you with any clear notion of what you saw. Chopper doesn't quite work out as a biography or even a character study, but it's an intriguing document on violence and violent people, and about what makes the same people land in trouble again and again.On top of that, it's also pretty entertaining. Eric Bana is terrific in the lead. Not being from Australia myself, I first became aware of Bana as a leading man in American mainstream films like Troy and Hulk, where he always struck me as dull and uncharismatic, but finding out that he was a successful comedian is his native country first makes a lot of sense after seeing his disturbing, layered and very funny performance as Chopper. It's difficult to call it a comedy - don't expect a crime farce like Snatch, because there's very little of that going on. But Chopper's character is outrageous enough to be entertaining throughout.