Review of The Monuments Men (2014) by Cole M — 30 May 2014

When I first heard about this film, I thought to myself "awesome! A new movie about World War II and it sounds like an interesting one to boot!" This story follows the Monuments Men, a group of men sent to Europe to recover stolen art from the Nazis before they are destroyed.

This would make for a decent film, right? Well, yes and no. Don't get me wrong, I did like the film, it's just that I was disappointed because it could have been SO much better. My main issue with the film is the pacing and editing.

This film clocks in at just under two hours, which is a length that I can usually handle. However, the pacing is handled so poorly in this film that it felt longer than it was. Each scene just seemed to drag and eventually seem to lead to nowhere.

The editing was also a problem for me. I understand that a certain number of days would have to be skipped over, but you'd think the editor would do a better job in transitioning in between the scenes for me to fully comprehend where the men are heading next and why I should care, rather than make the scene look like a random and pointless moment.

This is the same problem that I had with last year's 12 Years a Slave. Without a more comprehensive form of editing, the story just goes off the rails and seems like a jumbled mess. One other problem I had was Cate Blanchet's character.

She was just uninteresting. There was absolutely nothing to her character other than to glue some scenes together by giving exposition to the other men so that the story could move forward. These negatives being stated, The Monuments Men did have some good going for it as well.

For one thing, the story did have some pretty great moments, especially in the final act when the pacing finally gets back on track. What happens in the last 30-40 minutes is pretty much what I expected from the film this entire time.

It's brisk, bold, interesting, and exciting to watch. The actors were also well chosen and gave great performances along the way. I'm not saying that I hate this movie. With some good performances and some great scenes, The Monuments Men is worth a watch.

Just prepare yourself for some pacing problems which could pull you out of the movie along the way.