Visually stunning but...

Rating: 6/10 (5 August 2017)

One must give credit to the director for style points. It is very well done cinematically. But the minimal dialogue does not allow the audience to get to know the characters well enough to care about them. Nolan uses the well worn multiple plot lines device but in this case it doesn't work. Hitchcock is Nolan's role model but Hitch would never have used this device in one of his thrillers. Hitchcock always had straightforward plots with compelling main characters. But here, the characters are almost unimportant. Nolan is more interested in the danger that they are facing. But that doesn't work dramatically if the audience doesn't identify with the character.
Nolan seems to be uninterested in the battle as a great historical event. Little effort is spent on giving the audience the necessary background to understand the battle's significance. The director wants to treat the battle as a series of human survival dramas. That is only partially successful. The episode of the soldiers getting into the beached ship was just too obviously a suspense inducing gimmick. Why would anyone that was not completely stupid think that would be a safe refuge?
The enemy is almost faceless. This is another device meant to create a feeling of dread. All of these devices work in some movies but here it doesn't come together. For the British this battle was very emotional because they believed at the time that they were facing a German invasion of Britain. That was why it was so important to save the British Army. It wasn't just national honor. Nolan doesn't seem to care about any of this. I think that Nolan should stay away from historical subjects. It just isn't his forte.