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Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2017)

I saw Dunkirk 4 days ago, but I really wanted to sit on the experience and not review it until I fully understood what Christopher Nolan was going for. This isn't your typical war movie, neither it terms of structure or execution. But it is how you'd expect Christopher Nolan to tackle a war epic; with a non-linear structure, tightly written and directed scenes, and one heck of a mind-blowing score from Hans Zimmer. It's far from the easiest film to dissect, but the experience is undeniably moving.
Being a massive Christopher Nolan fan, I came into Dunkirk with high expectations and a ton of curiosity of how Nolan would treat a true story. This is the first film of is that attempts to take real-life events and present his own depiction. Unsurprisingly, the thing I love most about Dunkirk is Nolan's direction. Quite often war films look at the big picture (rightfully so), covering events from each side and telling in-depth stories about politics and survival. There's nothing wrong with those approaches, but the fact that Nolan takes a massive-scale approach to Dunkirk visually, when in reality the film is just about soldiers trying to survive on one particular beach, makes it all the more impressive. When you get past the fact that there's little dialogue and character development, there's plenty to love about Dunkirk.
Nolan's films all have those defining visual moments, as he often loves to have his non-linear structure be used to its full effect and use the multiple story angles to create a few epic moments. Think Inception, when the "dream is collapsing" and there's 3 different layers of dreams all coalescing at the same time. Dunkirk uses that same approach for pretty much the entire movie, The Mole (beach), The Sea, and The Air. The editing can be frustrating the first time around, as it was for me, especially when you really just want to learn more about each of these characters if they expect us to care at all. Jumping viewpoints turns out to be exactly the way this film should be structured. In reality, none of these soldiers would have time to tell each other their respected backgrounds or life stories, they're just trying to survive. I thought Nolan handled this beautifully.
Complementing the rapid editing is yet another terrific Hans Zimmer score. Nolan said in an interview that he gave Zimmer a recording of a ticking clock to give him an idea as to how he wanted the tone of the score to feel. Well, Zimmer took that to heart as that ticking clock is literally heard throughout the film. I love all of the Zimmer-Nolan collaborations, and Dunkirk is no exception. In fact, Zimmer's score could almost be considered more of an impactful character than the real characters themselves. There aren't many composers that can match the intensity that Nolan wants behind and in front of the camera, but Zimmer definitely does.
From Tom Hardy's almost dialogue-less performance, to the breathtaking cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema, and the incredible work done by Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk is a film which sees Christopher Nolan at the top of his craft. It's the shortest film of his since 'Following' but it may very well be his most emotionally effective film, and that's without developing any characters. Every year I'm hoping to see movies that change the way cinema is made and viewed, Nolan is one of the few directors that constantly break new ground in Hollywood. As much as Dunkirk isn't what I thought it would be, I can't ask for anything more than for him to reinvent the genre.
+Score
+Non-linear structure
+Mind-blowingly gorgeous visuals
+The best air-force sequences ever from a war film
10/10