Elegantly shot, yet lacking character development.

Rating: 7/10 (9 August 2017)

A rather unfair notion moviegoers have about Christopher Nolan is that every movie he creates must be instant classics. This notion is unfair mainly because no writer on the face of the earth constantly pumps out classic after classic. While I will agree that Nolan has a beautiful resume under his belt(as well as being my favorite filmmaker), he is only human, and is not perfect.
After seeing screen writing paradigms like Memento, Inception, and Interstellar, I fell in love with the characters that Nolan has created. I went into Dunkirk expecting to fall in love with a new set of characters all over again. Dunkirk just didn't deliver any form of character development at all. Unfortunately for Nolan fans, there is no main character for this film. Some actors get more screen time than others, however, the jury is still out on exactly who the story's perspective is told. However, the perspective changes 3 times, and in very rapid succession. We see either a young infantrymen, a trained pilot, or a group of civilians attempting to evacuate Dunkirk. These all sound like excellent ideas for characters, however, we know nothing about these people. Nolan did a fantastic job of making every moment of the movie have some sort of suspense. You were always on the edge of your seat hoping the worst wouldn't happen. However, I feel like the movie did a GROSS disservice to itself by lacking character development. A movie that is written to be this suspenseful should go hand in hand with amazing characters we hope don't die. Except, what we get is a very watered down attempt at suspense, and it really leaves a lot to be desired from the screen writing. For instance, Tom Hardy played a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Seeing him shoot down enemy planes with ease was very satisfying, however, at the end, when we see him captured by German soldiers, we have absolutely no clue why he purposely did that to himself. In fact, we know nothing about the man. All we know is that he is a damn pilot. What's even worse is that Tom Harry's character is a huge plot driver. To make such big plot decisions based off of characters who we know nothing about is very frustrating and overall a very cheap way to write a film.
While the film's plot leaves much to be desired, Nolan absolutely nailed the cinematography and effects. Christopher Nolan is the absolute master of practical effects, and you can really see the difference on the screen. I found myself drooling at some of the shots in this film. Some of the shots in this film last for 15-25 seconds all by themselves. It is no joke when I say that one of the best shots in cinema history is when Tom Hardy is flying, and the camera follows the plane. You can see the entire city of Dunkirk France in the background. This was an absolutely gorgeous shot, as well as many others. The action sequences in the film absolutely blew me away too. Right from the very beginning, the film's action sequences sounded, felt, and looked so close to real, I almost thought I was there myself.
Being a long time fan of Christopher Nolan, I have to say that I am disappointed in this film. Again, I would never have thought that a polished writer like Nolan would ever have a problem with character development. However, this is not the worst Christopher Nolan film to date, and is definitely better than Insomnia(not that that's saying anything).