Dispassionate vignettes looking for character and story arc

Rating: 5/10 (30 July 2017)

I wonder if I saw the same film on which plaudits have been heaped by critics. At hand is a war narrative told on an Emily Dickensian slant that refuses to trifle with toothy commodities like character development, storyline, protagonist or climax. CGI is dodged to make room for soul and authenticity in this film, but soul forgot to audition. Extreme budgetary considerations went into creating authentic air and sea battle depictions, and nuanced lenswork is on hand with a shrewdly deployed color palate, but the film is no more endearing than a cold limp handshake.