Humdrum World War II Heroics

Rating: 5/10 (25 July 2017)

Traditional armchair generals should know that director Christopher Nolan's World War II epic "Dunkirk" has little to do with the battle of Dunkirk. You won't see German Panzer Corps careening through Belgium and bulldozing into France. In fact, the only Germans in "Dunkirk" are either flying planes or show up as foot soldiers from undetermined units. Basically, "Dunkirk" breaks the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Forces (B.E.F.) up into three sections: one on land that covers one week, one on sea that covers one day, and one in the air that covers one hour. Of course, much, much, more occurred at Dunkirk than just the massive evacuation. Presumably, the "Dark Knight" filmmaker did not want to overextend himself a standard-issue battle extravaganza. "Dunkirk" was produced for $100-million, with probably millions more for simply publicity. So, if you're looking for something like "The Longest Day" (1962), "Battle of the Bulge" (1965), "Anzio" (1968), "A Bridge Too Far" (1977), "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), and "Hacksaw Ridge" (2016), prepare to be disappointed. "Dunkirk" doesn't recreate historic battlefield firefights, not even the infamous Wormhoudt Massacre where Waffen-SS soldiers of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler slaughtered as many as 80 British soldiers along with some French POWs. The SS crowded their prisoners into a stable, tossed in stick-grenades, and then finished them off with bursts of machine gun fire. Something like this might have given "Dunkirk" greater dramatic gravity. Instead, we see neither German tanks nor troops storming through France and Belgium like devils. This 107-minute movie boils down to a series of survival episodes that occurred strictly at Dunkirk. Notably, the RAF preferred to confine their resources largely to the island in preparation for the inevitable Battle of Britain, later made into the exemplary film the "Battle of Britain" (1969). Aside from the RAF, the Royal Navy and the Small Boat Owners are the heroes who rescued the BEF waiting impatiently on the beach.
"Dunkirk" opens with several British infantrymen wandering down a road inside the Dunkirk city limits as the Luftwaffe drops propaganda leaflets. No sooner have they had a moment to glance these surrender summons than gunfire breaks out from an unknown source. As they scramble for cover, unseen shooters kill all except Tommy (newcomer Fionn Whitehead), who crosses a street and comes under fire from French troops. They wave him toward their lines, and later he saunters onto the beaches. As far as he can see, queues of troops are standing on the beach awaiting transport. "Spectre" lenser Hoyte Van Hoytema's atmospheric cinematography shows these soldiers in their brown uniforms standing like sitting ducks in a row on white beaches. These scenes resemble something out of "Lawrence of Arabia" in all their sprawling immensity. Indeed, Van Hoytema's cinematography adds to the spectacle. Not long afterward, as Tommy tours the beach, screaming Stuka dive-bombers plunge from the skies like murderous seagulls on a beach teeming with baby turtles and do similar damage on a grand scale. The worst death in "Dunkirk" happens when bombs create marching explosions that blast a British soldier to smithereens as he shoots at the plane. Tommy meets another soldier under mysterious circumstances on the beach. Might he be a German saboteur? Without challenging him about his odd behavior, Tommy pitches in to help. They become fast friends who try to break the rules and the lines so they can get aboard a transport. Cheekily, they seize a stretcher case awaiting transport and scramble to an embarkation station. They reach the ship at the last minute, but they are denied access because they were Red Cross personnel. Nolan has these two heading off to find passage elsewhere by other means. Their exploits turn into shenanigans as they confront one setback after another, even after they get aboard a ship.
Although the RAF lost fewer planes than the Luftwaffe: 145 to 156, "Dunkirk" shows no more than six Spitfire fighters cruising the English Channel in search of prey. Again, budgetary concerns may explain the aircraft shortages. Also, Nolan doesn't go for too much CGI, so he resorted to cardboard cutouts of troops on the beach. Nevertheless, we get one hour's worth of the RAF giving the Luftwaffe literal Hell. Predictably, one pilot perishes in a crash, another ditches in the sea, but the third is far more fortunate. RAF pilot Farrier (Tom Hardy of "Mad Max: Fury Road") shoots up the Luftwaffe in "Dunkirk's" most exciting scenes. Christopher Nolan does a decent job of staging several tense scenes of soldiers confronting catastrophe. Unfortunately, aside from Tom Hardy's RAF pilot, Kenneth Branagh's Naval officer (who never endangered), Mark Rylance as a civilian sailor, and Cillian Murphy as the shell-shocked soldier, no celebrity movie stars of prominence. Indeed, most of the actors are unknown, except perhaps for "One-Direction" singer Harry Styles. Suspense works best when a character is conspicuous enough either as an actor or a character for us to care about. Everybody is virtually a nobody in "Dunkirk." Meantime, evoking sympathy for soldiers so desperate that they take refuge in a beached ship and become targets seems like the province of a horror chiller. Quoting the cliché, they die like fish in a barrel during target practice. Indeed, two soldiers trapped in the boat are the same who have tried to board transports. Oscar winning actor Mark Rylance has one of the better roles as a small boat owner who has already lost a son in the RAF. The episode with the shell-shocked soldier involving the inconsequential treatment of a civilian teen is the least savory scene. Nevertheless, Rylance's character is never in jeopardy. Often wearing an aviator's oxygen mask, Tom Hardy looks like the villainous Bane from Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises," but he comes closest to being a blood and guts hero. Ultimately, despite its heartfelt tribute to British resiliency in the face of annihilation, "Dunkirk" qualifies as a routine war movie.