Probably well filmed but a messy film to follow and take in

Rating: 6/10 (17 August 2017)

War films are similar to Westerns, we just don't see many of them anymore. While I do believe Christopher Nolan did some incredible films, I felt like after the Batman franchise his ego overtook talent and now he thinks everything he makes is gold. I thought Dunkirk would just be a solid, potentially moving film about an important battle in World War 2 history. Some reviews seem to indicate that is what some people saw. To me, it was a story with good cinematography, impressive practical effects, a rousing score but empty characters, a non-sensical and pointless chaotic chronological plot and a slow pace. I get that the point is to focus on all the men and the event as a whole and that works but in order to get truly invested as a movie goer, I think you need some character development and hero or heroes that you care about and I couldn't even tell you a single name in the film. The performances are all perfectly fine but the script is non-existent. They are just faces on a battlefield and it's very hard to connect with the incident. Towards the end of the film there is a big moving moment when the civilian boats arrive and there are tears in the eyes of the soldiers and I felt nothing. It was like watching a documentary but even less connecting.
There is a lot of newcomers on the cast, done on purpose by Nolan to get fresh faces, and then a few names. Fionn Whitehead, Damien Bonnard, Aneurin Barnard, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance, Tom Glynn-Carney, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Harry Styles (Yep that Harry Styles) and Jack Lowden are the main cast. Mark Rylance probably gives the best most memorable performance. He might be the only one you really get a back story on or something to actually understand him from. Everyone else gets plenty of screen time and some good scenes of fear and emotion but the lack of dialog and climactic scenes leaves you confused about whose who. I knew Tom Hardy was in the film but barely realized it was him until the end. Kenneth Branagh gives a very small, woefully underused part but has solid emotion to it. Harry Styles does a great job in his role as well. The film teases a few twists to the characters but it's so painfully forced down your throat that finding out otherwise is almost expected.
Christopher Nolan has done some of the biggest films of our generation. He also did some of the most brilliant (Inception, Memento) but as he continues to make films he goes bigger and bolder and uses elaborate pontificating tricks to make his films seem so great. The reality to the movie going public of 70mm film or whatever it is being important is pretty low I think. I do really respect him for practical effects because I think CGI and Digital is way overused. The scope of the battlefield and the air fights and the ships on the water are all really well done. The claustrophobic feel of some of the scenes really is good. It's just lacking the connect that draws you into the battle. You won't find yourself invested in any of the characters period. I'm surprised this wasn't a November release for awards season though we will likely see it in the technical awards. 6/10