A Stone Cold Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2017)

I'm not one of the biggest fans of Nolan, although I do like Memento (9/10) and loved TDK (10/10). I saw them both in theaters in 2000 and 2008, respectively. They have been my two favorites of his movies and I really do appreciate his artistry and talent in these movies. I'm just pointing this out to say I'm not a Nolanite who loves everything he does. For example, I wasn't a big fan of Interstellar, and I found Inception to only be good for a one time watch. Batman Begins was good, but although I liked TDKR, I found it flawed and a little overrated.
However, here comes Dunkirk. I went into this with low to no expectations, and I recommend doing the same. While I heard rave reviews, I thought, "Oh no, here go the critics again with their overrated reviews..." since I also read some negative reviews from audience reviewers claiming it was "only good, not great". So, I really had lowered my expectations, leaning toward the audience reviews.
Wow, this movie is awesome is all I can say. It is a visual masterpiece and in recent years, I have rarely been immersed in a movie the way I was with this. From the opening clip, it grips you immediately, and it rarely lets up.
This is the real deal. Within the first 20-30 minutes I already loved it. I had to just hope it didn't slow up or weaken by the end because I already thought it was a masterpiece. At one point about halfway through, a thought ran through my head "Nolan is a genius".
I don't know, maybe I'm just starving for a great summer movie, but I don't agree with any negative reviews of this film. it's almost perfect. The 90 minute edit down was much needed and I appreciate it as I have been asking Nolan to do that for years. I found Inception and TDKR could've been much better with better editing, shaving off at least a half hour if not more. Here, he does it so the whole movie is tight.
Some people have (and it's easy to), complained about the lack of character development or script, but it doesn't matter because the battle is the script. It could have used a little bit more character development, and that's where my 1 point deduction comes off.
If you are looking for a good movie that is "an immersive experience" that will grip you and barely let up, then I highly recommend Dunkirk. It's the best movie I've seen this year and one of the best war movies I've seen. This is one of the very few movies that I've seen in recent memory that I could say is worth the cost of a movie ticket.
It made me want to immediately see it again. That's when you know it's good. This is what summer movies and blockbusters are all about.
9/10