Could have been much better! 5/10

Rating: 5/10 (18 May 2015)

Review: Man, this film is long and it felt like it was never going to end. Don't get me wrong, the storyline is touching and it's amazing what these war veterans had to go through, but Angelina Jolie could have jazzed it up a little. A whole hour is spent with them at sea and then you've got another hour with them stuck in prison camps. I would have liked to have seen the aftermath of what the soldiers had to go through because it dragged after a while and I struggled to stay awake. The inspiring Olympic athlete, Louis, was played well by Jack O'Connell and some of the scenes were extremely emotional. The actions scenes at the beginning of the film, seemed quite real and the whole look and feel of the movie was great but I just couldn't take the length of the whole thing. The scenes when they were eating the fish on the dingy and when Louis was constantly getting picked on by the prison warden, we're touching and it's hard to believe that they ended up in such a predicament because the plane was faulty. Anyway, I personally was expecting a better film from Angelina Jolie who had a great concept to work with so it has to go down as a disappointment from me.
Round-Up: Although I didn't real connect with this film, it made a healthy profit at the box office so there must have been people out there who enjoyed it. Jack O'Connell, who shot to fame after his great performance in Starred Up, really gave this movie his all with the different weight changes and the reactions to the impossible situations that he found himself in. The bravery that was shown when he turned down to read the message on the radio which made him return to the horrible prison camp, was amazing but the tempo of the film is quite slow. It is worth a watch, just to see what these soldiers had to endeavour and the scene at the end when the real Louis is running was great but for entertainment, it did let me down.
Budget: $65million Worldwide Gross: $162million
I recommend this movie to people who are into their epic war movies about an inspiring Olympic athlete who goes to war and ends up stranded at sea for over a month and then he gets captured by the enemy. 5/10