The Bikeriders Is More Goodfellas Than Sons of Anarchy, & I’m Totally Cool With That

Summary

• The Bikeriders is more similar to Goodfellas rather than Sons of Anarchy.
• Both movies showcase the seductive nature of their respective groups and their darker sides, with characters retiring for different reasons.
• The Bikeriders offers a worthy alternative to Sons of Anarchy, exploring the corruption and downfall of a motorcycle club, though with similarities to Goodfellas.

Although The Bikeriders has similar themes to Sons of Anarchy, it ended up being more like Martin Scorsese’s gangster classic Goodfellas, and I’m totally cool with that. Among the most anticipated movies to be released in 2024 was The Bikeriders, directed by Jeff Nichols. Inspired by the photo-book of the same name by Danny Lyon, The Bikeriders tells the story of the fictional Vandals Motorcycle Club, founded by Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy) in the 1960s, and how the club evolved from a chosen family for its members into a violent group.

The Vandals’ rise and fall is told through Kathy Bauer (Jodie Comer) as she’s interviewed by photography student Danny Lyon (Mike Faist). Kathy married Vandals’ member Benny Cross (Austin Butler), one of the closest members to Johnny as well as one of the most loyal members of the club. Due to both being stories about a motorcycle club and their members and thus covering similar themes, The Bikeriders was expected to be a lot like the TV series Sons of Anarchy, but it ended up being more like Goodfellas, and that’s not a bad thing at all.

The Bikeriders Takes A Lot From Goodfellas

The Bikeriders Has Some Surprising Similarities To Goodfellas

Despite
The Bikeriders
not dealing with the mob, it’s also a crime movie in a different way.

Martin Scorsese is known for his gangster movies, and the one often regarded as his best (and my favorite) is Goodfellas. Based on the non-fiction book Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas tells the story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who, as a teenager, ran errands for local mob boss Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his crew. Henry earned the trust and respect of Paulie and his people, and he ended up becoming an associate of the Lucchese crime family. Goodfellas covers the fall of Henry Hill, which led him to cooperate with the FBI as an informant, thus forcing him to go into the witness protection program.

Despite The Bikeriders not dealing with the mob, it’s also a crime movie in a different way, but it has some surprising similarities to Goodfellas. Both movies show their respective groups – the mob and the club – as the best that could happen to their main characters (Henry and Benny) and as very seductive cultures, but as the stories progress, they show the darker and violent sides of these. In both, the main character retires from the lifestyle they once loved and fiercely defended, though they did so for different reasons.

In
Goodfellas
, Henry retired from the mob as he feared for his and his family’s lives, while Benny in
The Bikeriders
quit after seeing how violent the club had become.

The Bikeriders’ Kathy is the equivalent to Goodfellas’ Karen (Lorraine Bracco), both offering an outsider perspective to the Vandals and the mob and serving as the voice of reason for their partners. Visually, The Bikeriders also takes a lot from Goodfellas, with the opening scene being reminiscent of Henry Hill’s famous “as far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster” line. The Bikeriders uses freeze frames and relies on music to enhance certain scenes in ways that are inevitably reminiscent of Goodfellas, but instead of feeling like a rip-off, they fit perfectly within the context of Benny and the Vandals.

The Bikeriders Wasn’t As Similar To Sons of Anarchy As I Thought

The Bikeriders & Sons of Anarchy Turned Out To Be Different

The Bikeriders
focused on different parts of the club’s story than
Sons of Anarchy
.

As both are about motorcycle clubs and how they went from a safe space for outcasts to violent groups, I expected The Bikeriders to be a lot like Sons of Anarchy – and I was wrong. Surely, the vibe and style are there, but The Bikeriders focused on different parts of the club’s story than Sons of Anarchy. Kurt Sutter’s TV show followed Jax’s (Charlie Hunnam) efforts to make his father’s vision for the club a reality, but once he took over the club, the show saw his downfall and the near end of the club.

On the other hand, The Bikeriders was more about Benny’s struggles and the dynamics among the members of the club, rather than the club’s future and place among other groups. The heir to the President’s chair of the Vandals (Benny) knew when to retire, which is something Jax never knew how to do and kept going until he had no choice but to die. The Vandals had a sadder ending than SAMCRO as it was taken over by an inexperienced young delinquent who turned it into a criminal gang, while SAMCRO seemed to have improved once Chibs took over as President.

The Bikeriders Is Still A Worthy Replacement For Sons of Anarchy

The Bikeriders Will Appeal To Sons of Anarchy’s Fans

The Bikeriders
is another look at how a motorcycle club can be corrupted and ultimately go wrong.

Despite being more like Goodfellas than Sons of Anarchy, I still think The Bikeriders is a worthy replacement for the latter. The Bikeriders is another look at how a motorcycle club can be corrupted and ultimately go wrong, and it mirrors some of SAMCRO’s most important moments. The Bikeriders, like Sons of Anarchy, portrayed the brotherhood among the club’s members, and how they helped each other through their darkest times, such as after Brucie’s death. The Bikeriders can still be seen as the Sons of Anarchy prequel we never got, but with a touch of Goodfellas.