Why the hype?

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 2017)

I am sorry, but I did not like this film.
Went to see it with 2 friends, and during the opening 15min both one friend and I both looked at each other, and thought that the location scouts had done a terrible job. From what we could assess, none of the 40's Dunkirk streets had been rebuilt, you see buildings that look strikingly like they were from the 80's or 70's from the last century. For this type of budget? Furthermore, we all know the story, so where were the boats jammed with solders? During several scenes, we see soldiers almost scattered around on a ship. The same with soldiers on the beach. Did they have trouble hiring extras? Was there some resistance to CGI scenery's/soldiers in? If yes, then I am sorry, but it did part of making this film a failure in my eyes. The music and the ticking clock, that you almost hear constantly in this film had it's own little role in annoying me (just annoying, not adding suspense or any form of dimension. We do know that time was a factor in Dunkirk, there's no need to give you 2h of ticking clock for that).
Thumbs up for the air scenes and a good job from Tom Hardy. OK for drama, decent job from the young actors. A film transporting the right level of patriotism for this monumental achievement by the British/French people, not forgetting about the individual tragedies and lives torn apart.
But, I am sorry, I think this was a terrible job for creating the canvas of the movie, the set & atmosphere.
I don't like to trash films, but in this case, the people who were there deserve better.