Tense yet deeply stirring World War I epic

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2019)

This film is an immersive and wholly impactful experience showing viewers just how visceral and hellish it was to be in combat during World War I. Directed by Sam Mendes and stunningly shot by cinematographer Roger Deakins, this film tells the story of two young British soldiers who are given orders by their superior to deliver a message to prevent an attack in a seemingly distant area of France. The film is (mostly) shot and tightly edited to appear akin to one continuous shot that grabs the viewer's attention and never lets go.
The intensity of the film is almost heart-stoppingly powerful. Viewers really feel the tension and anguish that countless young men were forced into during the war. The use of tracking shots and differentiating scope and scale further make the film's war action seem even more impactful. Its production design is outstanding, with unbelievably detailed recreations of various landscapes of the Western Front. Two the surprise of no one, Deakins' cinematography is remarkable both in its ambition and its execution. The film is incredibly well-acted, and also manages to develop its characters well, almost placing their current states of being into a figurative tapestry summing up the film's primary messages and intended takeaways about the war in the exact moment in which it is set. All of the film's scenes and major setpiece moments are superbly edited not only to look like one take, but to establish stunning tightness and cohesion to the narrative.
While the film is undoubtedly great, it's not quite perfect because it could have used some contextualization about what exactly was going on in the war during this exact time in 1917. Even though I'm a history buff to some extent and knew the basics of that, I would have appreciated some more specific information. It would have been possible to do this without breaking the film's "one-shot" style, as such context could have been revealed through dialogue or visually. This is the main reason that, while a very strong achievement without question, this film does not quite rise to the level of Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk," another visually immersive representation of a short time frame in a terrible 20th-century war. The time span of the film seems very slightly contrived as well.
That said, this is probably the most unique and detailed portrait of World War I since "All Quiet on the Western Front," and I absolutely recommend it. 8/10
NOTE: I saw an advance screening of the film in RPX (Regal's premium large format.) While the picture and sound quality were good, I still feel that RPX is inferior to Dolby Cinema and IMAX.