I came into this without having seen The Motorcycle Diaries and mainly wanting to understand who Che Guevara was and why he mattered. On that front, the film does deliver context, even if it asks a lot of patience in return.
Benicio del Toro completely owns the role. He doesn’t try to charm or explain Che away; he plays him as focused, rigid, and quietly intimidating, and that choice carries the movie.
The problem is momentum. The film is long, and the middle stretch feels padded, drifting into a flat, documentary rhythm that drains tension rather than building it. Many scenes feel more recorded than written, which makes the experience uneven.
That said, the final half hour finally clicks. The storytelling tightens, the stakes become clear, and the film gains real drive.
This is serious, committed filmmaking, anchored by a great performance, but it badly needed a stronger editorial hand. Worth watching, but not without frustration. 6.5/10.
