Escaping to Flee Another Day

Rating: 3/10 (12 March 2020)

This film begins with a small British patrol being ambushed by the Germans in World War 2 with only one survivor by the name of "Tommy" (Fionn Whitehead) able to escape. Fortunately, he manages to link up with the main British Expeditionary Force on the beach near Dunkirk, France. It's then that he realizes the predicament the army is in as they are trapped between the German army on one side and the English Channel on the other with very few ships to transport most of them. Not wanting to be killed or captured, he and another soldier named "Gibson" (Aneurin Barnard ) spot a wounded comrade nearby and carry him on a stretcher to a nearby ship where they hope to secure transportation. Unfortunately, after depositing the wounded man they are ordered off the ship-which is then sunk by a German dive bomber. Later they board another British ship only to have it sunk by a German submarine. Meanwhile, three British Spitfires are busy trying to protect other ships from German airplanes while at the same time monitoring their fuel consumption which is rapidly being depleted. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film was nominated for several prestigious awards including an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture. Personally, I was less than impressed as the background noise (used to increase the tension) went on for much too long to the extent that it got quite annoying after awhile. Additionally, the constant switching from one scenario to another made the film seem rather disorganized as well. In short, although this movie has won a great deal of critical and popular acclaim, I was rather disappointed and have rated it accordingly. Below average.