Well, a little broken

Rating: 6/10 (12 January 2015)

Quickie Review:
Olympian Louis Zamperini (Jack O'Connell), turned bombardier in WWII survives a plane crash into the ocean. He along with his crew-mates are left stranded on a raft for 47 days. Just when all hope is lost Louis enters another hell when he is captured by the Japanese navy and sent to a detention camp. This is the directorial debut of Angelina Jolie, and unfortunately the lack of directing experience does show when it comes to character development and story pacing. This film certainly has moments where it shines. It is well shot and acted, with the first half showing some potential for greatness. However, the second half feels overstretched without the depth of rest of the movie. In the end it's alright, but it could have been a lot better.
Full Review:
Coen brothers written WWII movie based on a true story. Sounds like a safe bet right? Well there is one wildcard here, the director is Angelina Jolie. Considering she has never been behind the camera before I had to consider the chance the movie would be rough around the edges. Turns out there is slightly more roughness than I had anticipated.
First off this is a impressive looking movie. The opening shot is of a bombing run over an enemy base while trying to survive the anti- air fire. It's intense with great cinematography, and you also see a lot of that even during the smaller intimate moments. The sets and look of the movie add to the tangibility of the horrors of being stranded on the ocean or being held and mistreated as a prisoner of war. Additionally, two of the main cast Jack O'Connell and Domhnall Gleeson were great in their roles. Both of them had to carry a significant part of the story, the friendship and comradery they have in the wake of the crash felt genuine. I really enjoyed watching the first half of the movie because it jumped between times before and during the war. So you get to see Louis' past and how it shaped him to handle the hellish circumstances he has been dealt.
With such an inspirational story, you would expect to be deeply moved by the film. Instead there are some missteps taken that hinder Unbroken from reaching its potential. I just mentioned how I enjoyed the structure of the first half showing two time-lines, it added the much needed emotional weight. However, that structure is completely abandoned once Louis is captured by the Japanese navy. This would have been fine if the detention camp scenes carried the same weight. The problem is that the sense of consequence is completely non- existent for the rest of the movie. For example, there would be a scene where Louis would be beaten senselessly, to the point he can't stand or loses consciousness, but then next scene is the very next day of him sitting pretty with a nicely combed greased hair and a single scar on his cheek. This happens so often and for so long that I wasn't as invested in him anymore. What's the point if he brushes everything off so easily the next scene? He may be a hero in real life, but he is not a superhero. A good villain could have redeemed this part of the movie, but even that was poorly handled. Takamasa Ishihara, who plays the camp's officer in command comes off as a very shallow and generic villain, being evil just for the sake of it.
All the right ingredients are there but somewhere along middle the recipe was meddled with. Overall, Unbroken is a watchable film thanks to its cinematography and decent acting. I wouldn't recommend a full price ticket, but it is worthy of a Netflix stream. Main issue is that too much time and effort is put on the invincibility of the characters rather than their vulnerability. This results in a film that feels somewhat underwhelming and unrelatable at certain moments.
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