Epic war film over-hyped

Rating: 5/10 (25 July 2017)

As a history buff, I am easily drawn to historical films, including biopics. I understand the dramatic license filmmakers must take to make what is sometimes flat material into a compelling story. However, the story of Dunkirk and the evacuation of over 300,000 trapped British soldiers is as full of natural drama as stories about D-Day, or the Alamo, etc. My biggest complaint about this undeniably beautiful cinematic special effects party is that if you don't already know the story, the context is murky and the narrative very fragmented. My second objection is to the filmmaker's need to fictionalize characters--there are so many heroic and amazing stories found in this event--no need to make up characters. I would strongly recommend that before you see this film, if you don't know the history, do a little research. Of course, if you do, you'll probably be as disappointed as I was--this could have been a great epic war film. Instead, it is disconnected and hard to follow, both in terms of the interior chronology and the context.