One of the best war films of all time

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2017)

Dunkirk tells the story of the evacuation of thousands of British soldiers from France following a military disaster. I wasn't looking forward to this particularly. After years of Christopher Nolan being idolized and trivialized by some of the most obnoxious fans on the internet- if you do a negative review of one of his films prepare for cyber-bullying- I have become fed up of hearing about his movies. As well as this, the Dunkirk evacuation didn't seem like a great war story to tell out of all the WWII stories that could have been told. Well, the doubts were wrong. Dunkirk is a technical masterpiece and better than nearly every single major release from 2016. Despite criticism at the lack of character development, for me it worked perfectly. No sentimentality. No weepy moments. No extended dialogue scenes. Here, the events tell the story and the emotional trauma of everything going on, brought to terrifying life by Christopher Nolan at the peak of his powers, are more than enough. Sure, the characters are thin, but they're brought to life by great performances- even Harry Styles is excellent. In terms of virtually every aspect of the film, it's technically masterful, while the non-linear story-telling and focus on people, not explosions, make this a harrowing and emotional experience, as well as a painfully tense one. As a celebration of courage in the face of hopeless circumstances, as a tale of unity, as a suspense thriller, as a historical reconstruction and as a cinematic work in general, Dunkirk is a real triumph.
9/10