Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan is a very talented director known for crafting unique storytelling narratives and being precise in how scenes are shot as well as his excellent use of practical effects. Among the traits associated with his films, the more recognizable in my experience are those dealing with morality and philosophy in how they connect to the stories used in fiction as well as modern society. Ever since his directorial debut in 1978, Nolan has been taking his time in making quality products while occasionally producing blockbusters along the way. My personal favorites from his catalog include Momento, The Dark Knight (though Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises are worthy honorable mentions), and Inception. On the other hand, I dislike Interstellar since it feels pretentious in terms of the script overdoing the philosophical monologues and science fiction explanations (especially given the long runtime of the film), though the visual effects and Hans Zimmer score are gorgeous. It's worth noting the actors he often collaborates with in his movies include Christian Bale, Michael Kaine, Cillian Murphy, and Tom Hardy. In the past couple of months, trailers have appeared for his new biographical war film, Dunkirk, and everything in terms of the action presented looked great, which brought in the hype train for Christopher Nolan fans. I entered the crowded IMAX theater ready for the experience that was filmed in 70 mm and left having enjoyed one of Nolan's most visually entertaining intense movie experience.

Plot: The plot follows the true events of the evacuation of British and French soldier stationed at Dunkirk during World War II, which is told from three perspectives: the land, the sea, and the sky. However, due to the directors habit of having unique narrative structure (such as from Momento and Batman Begins), this becomes an anthology of stories where each piece is told over a different period of time (from one taking one hour, one day, and another taking one week) and are going to intersect with each other at some point. In addition to that, it will also alternate between each story and it's up the audience to keep track of what's going on. The land story follows British soldiers attempting to escape and survive the beaches from enemy attacks, the arc on the sea finds a mariner and his sons participating in the evacuation effort at hand, and in the air an Air Force pilot is providing air support for the troops. Because of the narrative structure at hand, it will be encouraged to watch this more than once, which is common for Nolan's movies (though a strong recommendation to wait until after it comes on DVD for a rewatch for reason that will be brought up in the character section). Overall the story carries traits in a Nolan movie in telling the events of Dunkirk via a narrative structure to understand even more through a rewatch, great cinematography, and a wonderful Hans Zimmer score.

Characters: The characters to pay attention to are Mr Dawson (Mark Rylance), a shell-shocked soldier (Cillian Murphy), Farrier (Tom Hardy), Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), and Alex (Harry Styles). One thing to keep in mind here is that there isn't any time for character development for anyone considering the intense stakes at hand from the incoming attacks from enemy gunfire and bombs. Mr Dawson is a mariner venturing out to Dunkirk with his son to assist in the evacuation effort who encounters a soldier suffering from PTSD. Farrier is a Spitfire pilot providing air support against enemy fighters targeting the escaping troops. Tommy and Alex are British Army privates attempting to survive the intense attacks while they work to escape the chaos. These actors give good performances but an issue that can hold back the enjoyment of the experience a little bit are their thick natural accents (there's a mix of English and Scottish actors) because whenever there's conversation between the characters, it's difficult to comprehend what's being said half of the time (though to the film's credit it has a much larger focus on the action at hand and there isn't much dialog). Alongside needing a rewatch to better comprehend the narrative (which is standard for a Christopher Nolan movie), this movie needed subtitles put on. Overall while the cast give good performances, what could get in the way of your enjoyment would be the absence of character development and the dialog being hindered by the thick accents of the actors.

Action: The action presented here is one of the trademarks most associated with the Christopher Nolan's preference for practical effects with all for the stunt work being utilized (which is saying something for a director who flipped a freighter upside down in The Dark Knight and his opening plane scene from The Dark Knight Rises). The stunts being used here are real and are conveyed with the intense danger from enemy forces closing in on the French and British troopers. Everything you see happen in the movie is real since Nolan loves to film the action shots that way whether it's a damaged ship being sunk with soldiers inside or gunfire going off in the air between fighter planes. It's one of the best action pieces in movie history and is the best thing about this movie in the experience for the event. An honorable mention goes to an action piece involving a ship in the third act with Tommy and Alex along with a group of troops under attack and are faced with circumstances that turn that situation that they are in into an intense horror movie (which is my favorite scene in the whole movie). That kind of danger can push some of these soldiers into cowardly turning into an every man for themselves type of mentality, presented throughout two of the stories explored. There hasn't been an action movie this excellent in creating this type of practical work since Mad Mad Fury Road and what's presented here manages to match that movie here in scope. Overall the action set pieces created for Dunkirk are among the best crafted for an action movie and biographical war movies that are worth watching in theaters (with a strong recommendation for the IMAX experience), with support from Hans Zimmer's score to increase the dread of the upcoming enemy attack.

Overall Consensus: Dunkirk is one of the most visually impressive action movies of Christopher Nolan's career in telling the true events of this WWII retreat via a unique narrative structure for three different perspectives, a gorgeous Hans Zimmer score, and the director's utilization of practical effects for breathtaking crafted action scenes. ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Please note that this score of 4 stars will most likely be updated to 4.5 stars once I see the subtitled version of this movie to get a more comprehensive version of the experience.

Reasons to watch it: You like action focused biographical war movies. You like movies directed by Christopher Nolan. You like movies with a unique narrative structure. You like movies focusing more on the action and excludes any character development. You want to see the practical stunt work with every action scene filmed. You don't like action movies that feature blood. You enjoy watching movies that utilize a Hans Zimmer score. You like any of the aforementioned actors. You don't mind movies where actors with thick accents that could interfere with the dialog. You like movies that are filmed in 70 mm film. You like action movies take are based on true events during WWII.

Reasons to avoid it: You don't like action focused biographical war movies. You don't like Christopher Nolan movies. You don't like unique narrative structures. You like action movies that shows blood. You don't like movies with a Hans Zimmer Score. You don't like any of the aforementioned actors. You don't like movies where the actors with thick accents that could interfere with the dialog. You don't like biographical action movies taking place during WWII.

Coming up next: Jubilant July has been hitting it stride from following up an underwhelming superhero movie to two impressive war movies in a row (though the first one was more of a metaphorical one involving emotional development and this one being in a horror movie in the intense action scenes for the French and British soldiers). Now we will move onto a movie taking place during the Cold War (and is the fourth movie that takes place during a warring environment this summer) in an upcoming mystery thriller featuring a female protagonist who's basically the female version of John Wick. Will this film conclude the summer on a great entertaining note or will it disappoint us in making this feel like a summer 2016 movie (and not in a good way)? Let's find out next time as Screening Spectacles will conclude Jubilant July with the upcoming action mystery thriller, Atomic Blonde!!!