Exceptional filmmaking (derivative score aside)

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2020)

Brilliantly made. The one-shot thing comes off a lot better here than in other films I've seen it used in, and creates a genuine sense of geography and immersion. It does feel a bit like playing an on-the-rails video game at times - but a very good one - and emotional engagement remains strong throughout.
I've never been much of a fan of Mendes before, but I thought this was some pretty exceptional filmmaking.
Always known cinematographer Roger Deakins is a genius - and this further confirms it.
However, 1917 just falls short of being a 10* film for me - because some of the creative choices felt a bit too borrowed from recent movies (e.g. Dunkirk and The Revenant) - especially Thomas Newman's score - which sounded like a shameless rip off of cues from Hans Zimmer's scores for Dunkirk, The Thin Red Line and The Dark Knight - which I can only guess were all used on the temp track.
Still - an excellent film, well-worthy of joining the canon of Great War/anti-War movies.