Review of Dunkirk (2017) by Thomas F — 11 Dec 2017
When I walked out of the theater after Dunkirk, my first thought was "This was the best war movie I've ever seen." That hasn't changed, by the way.
Dunkirk is an incredible tense, claustrophobic film. In the world that Chris Nolan bring to life, every second matters, not every bullet. The threat of the Nazis is a constant and looming presence, but outside of the occasional airplane, we almost never even actually see them. Rather than diminishing their role as villains, this makes them an almost ever present enemy- the Axis powers aren't nowhere, they're EVERYWHERE, and it's terrifying.
The film's structure is strange and not all viewers will initially pick up on it even though the movie lays it out pretty honestly (it took me a bit) but it allows the film to play with Time (one of Nolan's apparent passions) without breaking the believably of the film. I appreciated that, because even though I was excited for a Nolan WWII film, I was concerned that it would have to lack some of the typical weirdness of his typical fare. Fear not!
One final thought- if you're concerned about the kid from One Direction being in the film, know that he's actually not at all bad in it, and is almost not even recognizable.
This review of Dunkirk (2017) was written by Thomas F on 11 Dec 2017.
Dunkirk has generally received very positive reviews.
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