Flawed but terrifying reconstruction of tragic true life events

Rating: 7/10 (9 October 2019)

There seems to be a slew of negative reviews of this film recently, some for ridiculous reasons such as the time it took for the special forces to arrive or the lack of fightback by the civilians, it is almost as if they do not realise it is based on a true story. Some even claim it is boring. But what you have is a gritty reconstruction of truly horrific events, a non-stop carnage from perpetrators whose only purpose is to kill as many as possible. The main characters are fictional amalgams of true life characters with the exception of Hemant Oberoi who, because of his fame, would be impossible to hide. Dev Patel leads an impressive cast that convey both the fear and astonishment at their predicament.
The film has its faults, a crying baby scene is a straight out clichÃ© and Armie hammer's character is just a bit too much of the American hero. You do get the feeling that Paul Greengrass could have made a much better film.