'Dunkirk' REVIEW: A uniquely cinematic war movie experience of sheer shock and awe

'Dunkirk' is the newest film from writer-director Christopher Nolan who you may know from directing films such as Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012), Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014). All of which I would describe as near-perfect and offer unique cinematic experiences with each one. I can pretty much say the exact same thing with this latest film.

The film is about the allied soldiers from Britain, Belgium, Canada and France who are surrounded by the German army on the beaches of Dunkirk and evacuation in Operation Dynamo in a week during the early stages of World War 2 shown in 3 perspectives: On land, sea and air. The film stars Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance as well as newcomers such as Fionn Whitehead, Aneurin Barnard and Harry Styles of all people. While there are big name actors in the film, Christopher Nolan wisely chooses newcomers as some of the main leads. In fact, the first shot of the film starts out with Fionn Whitehead as Tommy, a British Army private desperately trying to get out of the beaches of Dunkirk. From the very first shot until the last, the film is nothing but an intense, haunting, emotionally satisfying and unforgettable experience that anyone will have in the movie theater.

Positives about this film is that it's very immersive in placing you in the perspective of the main protagonists through the way it's shot and seamlessly practical sound effects. What's unique about this particular war movie is that it does constantly switch between its 3 perspectives all of which could be engrossing to watch as films of their own, but the film does manage to tie them up together neatly without feeling like it shifts in tone. While the performances of the actors are minimal, they're presented in way that's realistic and effective to that particular situation they are in. In discussion of the 3 perspectives, the film sometimes repeat certain scenes, but shown in a different perspective and cleverly shifts between time to show what characters were like before to offer entirely wordless character development that's effective. For a war film there are a lot of quiet moments which I initially found strange, but in perspective of the characters quietness is to be rewarding for them therefore rewarding for the audience until another attack occurs breaking the tension. With this film I can see all of the Academy Awards categories that I'm sure it'll be nominated for such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.

However, I did find issues. They may not bother me, but I could tell they may be problematic to regular movie-goers. One of them being there isn't a whole lot of meaningful dialogue in the film. After having seen the film I can assume that the script is only 10 pages long. The film is definitely an exercise in spectacle and not character and therefore has very minimal character development. I must admit I did find that element of the film to be frustrating at first (Even the main character doesn't even speak until an hour into the film). After leaving the film I thought about it on the way home and realized that it's not necessarily about the people in the war, but the war itself and how terrifying it was back then. Another issue may be that I did find myself confused whenever the film jumps back in time only to understand much later what it was all about.

I must reiterate, this is a definite must-see for all Christopher Nolan fans as well as movie fans in general. You'll find yourselves surprised of what Dunkirk has to offer as a movie going experience and packs a powerful message near the end. It does take a while to digest with how little character development there is, but in the end you'll be greatly satisfied with Christopher Nolans newest film.

'Dunkirk' gets an A