Stunning direction with minimalist characters

Rating: 8/10 (3 August 2017)

This is a film that MUST be seen in theaters. Nolan does a brilliant job of dragging you into the terrors of WWII while keeping you on the edge of your seat; you don't need to know anything about the war to appreciate this film, which is a plus. The film begins with a young man embarking on terrifying journey to escape Dunkirk, an island where the Germans trapped the British army. Nolan shows three different angles of the battle: land (mole), sea and air, and does a beautiful job of fusing all three story lines together with plenty of suspense and a riveting soundtrack.
I was hoping that Nolan would take advantage of the incredible talent who signed onto this film, namely Cillian Murphy and Mark Rylance. Murphy and Rylance share the sea story line, which was exciting. However, I was disappointed by Murphy's lack of screen time and his small number of lines. I wanted more meaningful interactions between the two - there was so much missed potential there.
While some criticize the central character as taciturn, the minimalism here made more sense. Just as Tom Hardy's pilot was never meant to exhibit his fears and triumphs through anything more than facial expressions beneath his mask, the central character was never meant to voice his opinions or make heroic statements. Nolan uses the protagonist's silence to demonstrate the harrowing perils of war - how it blots out your sensibilities and forces you to run on instinct alone.
However, I do agree that many of the roles (namely Harry Styles's part as the gusty soldier who sticks by the central character) could have been filled by any actor. I was pleasantly surprised by the energy Styles injected into his scenes, but he likely won't be taking home any best actor awards...and neither will any other member of the cast, for the matter.
In summary. the real star of Dunkirk is the setting - the battle - itself. Even though Dunkirk isn't entirely historically accurate and its characters are overshadowed by their story lines, it's an achievement in excellent survival storytelling.