A technical feat that doesn't pack much of a punch

Rating: 7/10 (16 January 2020)

1917 is filmed as if it's one long take as we follow two British soldiers on a time sensitive mission to save 1600 men from walking into a German trap. While the cinematography and direction are Oscar worthy, the film packs no emotional punch and fails to achieve any real sense of urgency during its 2 hour run time.
***SPOILER ALERT***
As the movie begins there's no context regarding the state of the war, who is winning - what's at stake (strategically) if these men die at this battle. The only emotional connection you have to the 1600 men who are destined to be slaughtered (by machine guns which came of age during WWI - the script doesn't bother to paint any sort of picture for the viewer) - is that of the faceless hundreds is the brother of one of the protagonists. That's it.
The two leads are fine actors but there's nothing about their characters that pops off the screen.. When the two run into danger, they're put in situations that make no logical sense. For instance, the two see a trip wire right in front of them - there's a bomb wired to go off - a rat triggers the wire HUGE EXPLOSION! Yet, of the two soldiers one isn't harmed at all (no burns, no shrapnel) and the other gets buried in debris but is left without a single burn or any shrapnel injury. Then this powerful explosion- that caused no injury to either soldier - makes the entire trench start to collapse as if it's built with dominos?
Sometimes the characters are in a huge rush, and other times they take their time waxing about cherry trees and sipping unspoiled milk?? at an abandoned farm. German soldiers have the same aim as stormtroopers, yet our hero manages to shoot a sniper 100 yards away by shooting blindly.
There's lots of dead bodies along the way, but Mendes isn't showing us any horrors that haven't already been seen in way too many war films. The one take style becomes distracting after about 10 minutes or so, bringing your attention more to the difficulty of the technical achievement behind the camera than the lifeless story unfolding in front of it.