Christopher Nolan is overrated. Memento was brilliant, Insomnia and The Prestige were solid movies and Batman Begins was a good movie, a much needed reboot, the harbinger of the conflicted superhero movie. But with the release of The Dark Knight and its subsequent fanboy mania, that overlooked the choppy action sequences and illogical plot that consists of 'a guy without a plan' actually planning things to a tee (get caught, stich bomb in man's stomach...really) he somewhere got a bit too big. The Dark Knight Rises, Inception and Interstellar were all humorless, incredibly dull exercises in big budget showiness with no sense of awe or magic. And woe behold me if I ranted against him. Off with his head!
So I went into 'Dunkirk' apprehensively. Yes, I was told that the reviews were great, but they always were. Some magazines have already written glowing reviews for his next movie, whatever that may be. Dunkirk turns out to be his best movie since Memento. Nolan was apparently intrigued by the idea of the movie after making the crossing himself and imagining the journey in war time. And bound by history and a thankful decency, he has made a movie that adds almost nothing to what we know about Dunkirk, but offers a visceral experience, making the terror of war almost palpable. Nothing made on film may ever compare to the opening passage of Saving Private Ryan, but Dunkirk is epic on its own right. There are large passages with few words, almost no exposition (un-Nolan like, but welcome) and the casting of mostly unknown actors works marvelously. Tom Hardy gets his beautiful face covered by Nolan once again(!) - something for them to work out, but in swift strokes, Nolan is able to convey the terror on land, sea and in the air. Most nothing is done for effect and the net effect is immense. Zimmer's music is also powerful, as the story demands almost. The best compliment I can pay Dunkirk is that even without getting into too many facts, he makes it feel like a documentary. More of the same, please. Christopher Nolan is a genius.
So I went into 'Dunkirk' apprehensively. Yes, I was told that the reviews were great, but they always were. Some magazines have already written glowing reviews for his next movie, whatever that may be. Dunkirk turns out to be his best movie since Memento. Nolan was apparently intrigued by the idea of the movie after making the crossing himself and imagining the journey in war time. And bound by history and a thankful decency, he has made a movie that adds almost nothing to what we know about Dunkirk, but offers a visceral experience, making the terror of war almost palpable. Nothing made on film may ever compare to the opening passage of Saving Private Ryan, but Dunkirk is epic on its own right. There are large passages with few words, almost no exposition (un-Nolan like, but welcome) and the casting of mostly unknown actors works marvelously. Tom Hardy gets his beautiful face covered by Nolan once again(!) - something for them to work out, but in swift strokes, Nolan is able to convey the terror on land, sea and in the air. Most nothing is done for effect and the net effect is immense. Zimmer's music is also powerful, as the story demands almost. The best compliment I can pay Dunkirk is that even without getting into too many facts, he makes it feel like a documentary. More of the same, please. Christopher Nolan is a genius.
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