What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 13th August 2020.

In the past few weeks I have reported on a number of major studio films that have had their planned release dates pushed back because of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent halting or delays experienced by movie production houses, and only the partial reopening of cinemas worldwide. Those films rescheduled have been 'Tenet', 'No Time To Die', 'Wonder Woman 1984', 'The Conjuring : The Devil Made Me Do It', 'The French Dispatch', 'A Quiet Place : Part II', 'Top Gun : Maverick', 'Halloween Kills', 'The Eternals', 'Antlers', 'Ghostbusters : Afterlife', and 'Fast & Furiuos 9'. This week to keep you ever in the loop, I update you on another four major films that have seen their already publicised release dates pushed back.

'MORBIUS' - this American superhero film is Directed by Daniel Espinosa, the Swedish film maker whose earlier credits take in 'Safe House', 'Child 44' and 'Life' in 2017. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name this will be the second instalment in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters after 2018's 'Venom'. Here Jared Leto stars as Michael Morbius with Matt Smith, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson and Adria Arjona with Michael Keaton too. Initially scheduled for a 31st July 2020 release, this has now been delayed until 19th March 2021.

'LAST NIGHT IN SOHO' - is a psychological thriller film Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Edgar Wright whose previous Directorial credits include 'Shaun of the Dead', 'Hot Fuzz', 'The World's End', 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' and 'Baby Driver' in 2017. Here Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomas Harcourt McKenzie, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp star in this film which was originally slated for a 25th September 2020 release, but has since been pushed back until 23rd April 2021.

'SPIRAL : FROM THE BOOK OF SAW' - here we have the ninth film in the 'Saw' horror franchise that is this time Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman whose previous film making outings mostly in the horror genre include 'Saw II', Saw III', 'Saw IV', 'Mother's Day', '11-11-11', 'The Barrens' and 'Abattoir'. Here Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella and Marisol Nichols star in this follow on to the earlier films but with a fresh perspective. Originally intended for a 23rd October 2020 release this was then moved forward to a 15th May 2020 release date, and this has now been rescheduled to 20th May 2021.

'VENOM : LET THERE BE CARNAGE' - is the sequel to 2018's 'Venom' which grossed US$856M off the back of a US$110M production budget making this follow up instalment inevitable. This time Andy Serkis Directs and this will be the third film in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters following on from 'Morbius'. Here Tom Hardy reprises his role as Eddie Brock/Venom with Woody Harrelson starring as the antagonist Cletus Kasady/Carnage with Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott and Stephen Graham. Originally intended for a 2nd October 2020 release date this was subsequently pushed back to 25th June 2021.

This week there are four new release movies showing at your local Odeon. We launch with a disaster film of post zombie apocalyptic proportions in this South Korean standalone sequel to a hugely popular and successful 2016 film, that sees a group of four soldiers return to a zombie infested wasteland to retrieve a stash of cash and get out alive . . . easy! Next we turn to another disaster, but this one brought about by a hurricane event, and a cop trying to organise the evacuation of an apartment tower in which lives a former cop now suffering ill health, as a gang of thieves close in intent on stealing a huge stash of cash hidden in said apartment block. We have next a comedy drama about an estranged father and son who embark on journey to Tuscany to visit, fix up and sell a run down old villa left to them by their late wife and mother; before closing out the week with a French offering about a man whose life long marriage is on the slide but he's given a chance to kind of 'time travel' by a stage company and so he revisits the place where he first met his future wife over forty years prior.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'PENINSULA' (Rated MA15+) - this South Korean post zombie apocalyptic action horror film is the standalone sequel to 2016's 'Train to Busan' as is Directed by Yeon Sang-ho who also Directed that first instalment. This film was selected to be shown at this years Cannes Film Festival which was subsequently cancelled for reasons of COVID-19. And so the film was released in its native South Korea in mid-July, goes on limited release in Australia this week and in the US next week. The film cost US$16M to make and has so far grossed US$29M with US$27M of that haul coming from its local audience. It is also the first time since mid-March that the total global Box Office for a new film release has achieved over US$1M.

Set four years following the total decimation of South Korea in 'Train to Busan' Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won), a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives : retrieve an abandoned food truck containing a stash of cash amounting to US$20M and survive in the process. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best or worst of human nature prevails in the most deadly and dangerous of circumstances. Also starring Lee Jung-hyun and Lee Re.

'FORCE OF NATURE' (Rated MA15+) - is an American action film Directed by Michael Polish whose previous Directing credits include 'The Astronaut Farmer' in 2006 with Billy Bob Thornton, 'The Smell of Success' in 2009 with Thornton again, 'Amnesiac' in 2014 with Kate Bosworth, '90 Minutes in Heaven' in 2015 with Bosworth again and 'Nona' in 2017 with Bosworth once more. And here he teams up with Bosworth again for the latest hurricane heist set drama. And so here policeman Cardillo (Emille Hirsch) and a former cop suffering declining health Ray Barrett (Mel Gibson) married to Troy Barrett (Kate Bosworth) battle a gang of thieves led by John the Baptist (David Zayas) as they search for US$55M inside an evacuated building during a hurricane. This film seems to have divided Critics who have largely bestowed negative Press on the film, and audiences who have seemingly praised it. The film was released at the end of June on digital, DVD and Blu-Ray, gets a theatrical release in Australia this week, cost US$23M to produce and so far grossed US$150K.

'MADE IN ITALY' (Rated M) - this comedy film is Directed and Written by the English Actor James D'Arcy in his feature film making debut. Darcy has notched up nearly eighty film and television acting credits to his name in a career spanning twenty-five years. Here Robert (Liam Neeson) is estranged from his adult son Jack (Micheal Richardson), but they reunite to travel to Tuscany, Italy in order to sell the house they inherited from Robert's late wife. When they arrive they discover a run down largely dilapidated villa, that they must first set about restoring before they can even think about selling. As the renovations don't go quite according to plan, the father and son soon find themselves at odds with one another. Robert's obvious lack of DIY experience leads him to seek advice and assistance from some of the more colourful locals including the no nonsense Kate (Lindsay Duncan), an ex-pat who earns a living selling villas who also quickly captures his eye. For Jack, the state of the house seems to echo his search for memories of happier times with his mother. He soon falls for Natalia (Valeria Bilello), a vivacious young Italian chef, who restores both body and soul with culinary delights from her local trattoria, but her jealous and angry ex-husband may come between them. As Robert and Jack gradually restore the villa to its former glory, so too do they begin to heal their relationship.

'LA BELLE EPOQUE' (Rated M) - is a 2019 French romantic comedy drama film Directed and Written by Nicolas Bedos in only his second feature film making outing, although he has acted and written in various films and TV series over the years. The film first Premiered out of competition at the May 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was then released in its native France in early November last year to generally favourable Reviews. Here, Victor Drumond (Daniel Auteuil) is a man in his sixties whose forty or so year marriage to Marianne (Fanny Ardant) is on the rocks. When Victor meets Antoine (Guillaume Canet), the owner of a company which allows people to perform a version of 'time travel' by visiting a stage where the company acts out a staged historical reenactment, he takes the opportunity to revisit the moment when he first met Marianne on 16th May 1974 at a cafe in Lyon called 'La Belle Epoque', in the hope of reigniting his love for her. Also starring Doria Tillier and Michael Cohen.

With four new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE SNOWMAN : Tuesday 24th October 2017.

'THE SNOWMAN' which I saw earlier this week is potentially the first in what may turn out to be new film franchise for this Norwegian crime fighting detective Harry Hole, based on the Oslo Crime Squad character created by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo in the popular series of novels that have been translated into forty languages, and having sold over thirty million copies worldwide. Harry Hole appears in eleven novels so far, first launched in 1997 with 'The Bat', taking us up to 2017 with the release of 'The Thirst'. 'The Snowman' upon which this film is based is the seventh book in the series and was published in 2007. This film is Directed by Tomas Alfredson, whose previous Directing credits include the acclaimed 'Let The Right One In' and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. The film cost US$35M to bring to the big screen and has so far recouped US$23M, and has garnered generally lacklustre Reviews.

Research reveals that Harry Hole (here portrayed by Michael Fassbender) is a brilliant and driven detective prone to using unorthodox methods in his work, a classic loose cannon in the police force. Hole is unmarried and he has few close friends. He frequently makes enemies among his colleagues who, nevertheless, grudgingly respect him. He is a chain smoker and heavy drinker, although for the most part has his reliance on alcohol under control. The effects of his problems however, sometimes bring him into repeated conflict with his superiors, and some colleagues. Hole is also one of just a handful in the force to have undertaken special interrogation techniques and firearms training with the FBI.

Our film opens up on a desolate snow covered mountain side dwelling. Up pulls a VW Golf Police car, and out steps an overweight getting on in years man who delivers two gas cylinder bottles to the house, stashes them away inside and then sits down at the dining table with the mother of the household and her young teenage son. It is presumed to be sometime in the early 80's. The man tests the young lad on notable dates in history, and when the boy falters or answers incorrectly the women gets a stern beating. One such wrong answer sends the mother crashing backwards off her chair and onto the floor. Next up the young lad is spying on the mother and the man through the bedroom window as they have sex. When the boy is seen, the man hurriedly gets up out of the bed, gets dressed, storms out of the house ranting as he does so and speeds off in his car. The mother and boy give chase in the car across the spartan snow covered landscape. At some point the mother releases her hands from the steering wheel and the car careers off the road onto a frozen lake. The boy is screaming at his mother but she doesn't hear, her gaze fixed firmly on the road ahead, emotionless. The boy pulls on the handbrake and the car skids to a halt. He gets out of the passenger side door hearing the ice crack beneath the vehicle. His mother sits motionless as the boys struggles to open the drivers side door to free his mother. But she doesn't want to be freed as the vehicle slowly sinks into the icy depths below and disappears.

We then cut to the present day and waking up from a drunken stupor in a park shelter is Detective Harry Hole of the Oslo Police. He has been absent without leave for the past week or so, and meanders into the office to check on his mail, and is greeted by his superior officer with a reminder of leave protocols, a quick slap on the wrist and told not to do it again. He then ventures outside to a smoking balcony where he meets new recruit Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Fergusson) who has been assigned to his office. They exchange social niceties and go their separate ways, only to meet up hours later when Hole sees Bratt leaving for the day and catches a ride. She is on her way to a reported missing persons case, and Hole tags along. Meanwhile, in Hole's stash of mail is a handwritten cryptic letter sent directly from a supposed killer with a picture of a snowman at the bottom of the page - its plays on Hole's mind momentarily, but then he seems to dismiss it.

The missing person in question is Birte Becker (Genevieve O'Reilly) a married mother of a six or seven year old daughter. The night before her disappearance we see her car being followed by another on the way home from work. She arrives and is greeted by the young child, but the waiting father Filip Becker (James D'Arcy) is angry at her being late and he storms out of the house with bags packed on his way to some important business meeting out of town, leaving mother and daughter alone in the house. The next morning, the child wakes up and mother is gone. No sign of her, and a neighbour alerted the Police who send Bratt along to investigate. Outside in the garden is a squat snowman, with twigs for arms and coffee beans for a wry smile, gazing up the house.

The next case of a missing person requires a drive out to some remote farmstead for a case of a missing Sylvia Ottersen (Chloe Sevigny), but when they arrive Sylvia Ottersen is alive and well and shrugs it off as a prank call form her jilted boyfriend. Hole and Bratt leave from whence they came, only to be alerted over the Police band radio that Sylvia Ottersen has been reported missing . . . two minutes ago! They hastily turn around and return to the farmstead to be greeted by Ane Pedersen (Chloe Sevigny), Sylvia's identical twin, only to find the decapitated corpse of Sylvia Ottersen on the ground in the chicken shed. At this point Hole and Bratt surmise that the Snowman is playing with them and that he must have been watching them all along, calling in that Sylvia was missing even before she was butchered. Hole surveys the surrounding buildings and locates the head of Sylvia perched on top of a snowman at the bottom of a frozen abandoned silo.

In between time we catch glimpses of a back story featuring some Bergen based ace detective who came close to uncovering the Snowman murders some ten or fifteen years back. Detective Gert Rafto (Val Kilmer) was a drunken no nonsense kinda guy who met with a very sticky end at the hands of the Snowman, that was cleverly masked over to make it look like a suicide. When Hole goes to Bergen to investigate he is met by DC Svensson (Toby Jones) who simply reports that it was a plain and simple suicide and was therefore not investigated further. Hole, however, thinks there was more to it and examines further. His closer examination reveals a connection between Rafto and Bratt.

Another side story involves Arve Stop (J.K. Simmons) as an unscrupulous sinister media mogul who is spearheading Oslo's bid for the Winter Olympic Games which is about to be announced. Bratt has a feeling in her bones about Stop and goes undercover to investigate further, installing a hidden camera in his hotel room where she intends to proposition herself to him. Stop had dealings with Frederick Aasen (Adrian Dunbar) back in 2006 involving some kind of industrial development that went tits up leaving Aasen very bitter indeed. Needless to say it doesn't end well for Bratt as the Snowman gets to her first before Stop retires to his room for the night, and the Snowman has erased all footage from the hidden camera, and any evidence of a struggle.

The final plot scenario is the story of Hole's on again off again long term relationship with his ex-partner and art dealer Rakel (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her teenage son Oleg (Michael Yates) by her first marriage. Hole feels more than a semi-fatherly connection to Oleg despite Rakel's husband Mathias (Jonas Karlsson) also playing adoptive father duty who works as a medical consultant specialist that sees him away quite often on business or attending conferences, so giving Rakel the chance to rekindle with Hole, albeit temporarily - a fact that Mathias seems to accept.

Meanwhile back to the chilling killing as the body count rises and dismembered corpses turn up in all manner of locations, there seems little to connect the murderous spree other than motherhood, by neglect, abortion, jealousy etc. while their mysterious vanishings seems to coincide with fresh snow fall. Hole seems to do little actual detective work here, leaving all the investigative work to Bratt only to come along at the end and join the dots and bish bash bosh the serial killer is out in the open and exposed back where it all began in that desolate snow covered mountain side dwelling where Rakel and Oleg's lives are hanging in the balance. Hole sits across the table from his two loved ones almost powerless having to answer questions that determine whether the electric motorised garrote held by the Snowman is tightened or loosened around Rakel's neck. Needless to say, it comes down to a face off on a frozen lake with Hole shot to the ground and the Snowman approaching ready to plug him again at close range to finish the job.

This is a disjointed film where, alas, the sum of its parts are not greater than the (Harry) Hole. With a strong ensemble supporting cast who for the most part are left wanting to do more with the little screen time and dialogue afforded them, the film meanders from one grizzly killing to the next while Hole and Bratt join the seemingly simple dots to expose the serial killer. Fassbender and Ferguson are well cast, but that alone can't save this film that is too busy with side stories that go nowhere and add little value instead of getting down and dirty with the detective work and concentrate on what drives The Snowman to commit his unthinkable crimes. When the quality of Scandinavian police driven crime drama film and television is so good, despite the snow covered Norwegian vistas, this film feels like a hurried by the numbers affair that I'm sure will leave the legions of fans of the source novel thinking WTF! If Harry Hole does return to the big screen in another adaptation, and Fassbender could do so easily, let's hope that the lessons learned from this first instalment bode well for any follow-up as there is just enough of a foundation to do so.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

DUNKIRK : Monday 24th July 2017.

I saw 'DUNKIRK' in its 70mm format in one of only 159 cinemas worldwide showcasing this film in this way, and I'd have to say, that this is the only way to see this film! Back in the early '90's Christopher Nolan and his future wife, movie Producer and film collaborator Emma Thomas, were sailing across the English Channel to Dunkirk, when the young Writer and Director hit upon an idea for a film, about the evacuation of British armed forces from the war torn beaches of Dunkirk in mid-1940. He committed his idea to a 76 page Screenplay, and then put the whole idea on hold until such time as he had gained sufficient experience in making big epic blockbusting action film fare - the like of which he has more than proven he can do over the subsequent years. However, rather than making a film about the war time politics involving Churchill and his Generals; or showing the Germans on the beach head taking out allied forces with their strategically located gun placements; or paint this as a victory; or bring in Uncle Sam to save the day, he chose to make a film with an all English cast and from three perspectives - the air (involving Spitfire and Luftwaffe dog fights), the land (on the beaches of Dunkirk), and the sea (the evacuation of 400,000 troops by the Navy and any able bodied sea man who could steer a dinghy across the Channel to aid the rescue attempt).

And so armed with an ensemble cast of fine and lesser known English acting talent, Nolan has created a WWII action drama film where the dialogue is thin on the ground and there is no character backstory, instead allowing the suspense to come through the details and the authentic fact based story contained within the scenes. Nolan also made extensive use of practical effects - employing some six thousand extras, amassing a flotilla of boats that had participated in the real Dunkirk evacuation, and using genuine era-appropriate planes for aerial sequences. The film centres around the evacuation of British, French, Belgian and Canadian troops who are pinned down by German forces on the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, and their evacuation between 26th May and 4th June 1940 in what was known as 'Operation Dynamo'. The film Premiered in London on 13th July and was released worldwide last week, having cost US$100M to make it has so far grossed US$122M and has met largely with widespread acclaim.

The film is a triptych, with each separate clearly defined story overlapping through their engagement with the enemy while recounting the heroics, the ever present danger, the chaos and the gritty determination of everyday airmen, sea men, soldiers on the ground and the British general public in their concerted rescue attempts as they come under a constant barrage of attack by land, sea and air from the German forces. Told in a non-linear narrative style covering three different time periods - one on land covering a week and staged at one of two Moles protecting the outer harbour at Dunkirk from which ships were able to dock to evacuate the troops; one from the sea covering one day as the Royal Navy commandeer private boats to aid the rescue attempt across the English Channel; and one from the air covering one hour as a small squadron of three Spitfires fly across the Channel to provide air support to the men on the ground in Dunkirk. As the film opens up, an introductory text tells us that in 1940, after the invasion of France by Nazi Germany, thousands of Allied soldiers retreated to the French seaside town of Dunkirk. As the surrounding British perimeter shrinks, the soldiers await evacuation, a seemingly hopeless situation.

And so to the Mole, on land, where we meet young British Private Tommy (Fionn Whitehaed) who after a close encounter with German snipers survives and makes it behind Allied lines to the relative safety of Dunkirk beach and the amassed hordes of British and allied troops eagerly anticipating their imminent evacuation. There he meets Gibson (Aneurin Bernard) and the two stretcher an injured soldier across the beach to a waiting ship evacuating the wounded. The two lads are denied entry to the outgoing ship, but the injured man is carried aboard. Tommy and Gibson stow themselves away under the infrastructure of the Mole hoping to sneak abroad the next ship. German attack planes descend on the Mole, sinking the outgoing ship as it is about to leave the dock. In the chaos, the boys are thrown into the sea and save young Alex (Harry Styles) from being crushed as the ship sinks. They get on another boat later that night, but that is torpedoed by a German U-Boat and this time Gibson saves Tommy and Alex. The next day the three lads join a small group of Scottish soldiers who have spied a grounded fishing trawler further up the beach outside of the Allied perimeter. Hiding inside the vessel waiting for the tide to rise to refloat the boat, they are set upon by German soldiers who use the trawler for target practice shooting many holes in the boats hull, to the extent that when the boat does finally rise it lets in so much water that the men have to abandon it soon afterwards. As the vessel sinks, Gibson becomes entangled in some rigging and drowns. Alex and Tommy swim for a nearby minesweeper, but it is bombed and sinks. They are eventually picked up by Mr. Dawson's (Mark Rylance) boat in the vicinity of the sunken minesweeper that has been leaking oil heavily into the sea. They narrowly escape being engulfed in flames as a German plane is shot down and crashes into the sea in a ball of flame so igniting the oil slick. Mr. Dawson picks up a boat load of oil caked survivors and heads back for the white cliffs of England, and home.

Meanwhile on the Mole, Commander Bolton (Kenneth Branagh) has taken charge of the proceedings as the pier-master to coordinate the rescue and evacuation efforts. Together with Colonel Winnant (James D'Arcy) they discuss Churchill's rejection of Germany's offer for Britain to surrender and his commitment to see to it that 30,000 servicemen are evacuated, and that smaller civilian vessels had been ordered to aid the evacuation attempt to save the larger fleet for the defence of Britain. As the last vestiges of the British soldiers had been evacuated by a flotilla of smaller English boats of every size and description, so Winnant departs expecting Bolton to go with him. But stoically, Bolton stays behind stating that 300,000 British troops had been evacuated, and he would see to it that the French were next to be rescued.

To the sea, and Mr. Dawson does his duty to King and country without hesitation and sets of his motor cruiser (the 'Moonstone') with his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) and teenage deck hand George (Barry Keoghan). Soon after departing into the English Channel they spot three Spitfire planes over head. The vessel shortly afterwards comes across a semi-sunken ship with a lone survivor sitting on the hull of the upturned vessel. They rescue him and welcome the bitterly cold soldier aboard (Cillian Murphy) who is clearly shell shocked. The soldier becomes very agitated when he learns that Dawson is heading to Dunkirk and not to England and demands that the boat be turned around immediately, saying that he cannot go back there for fear of certain death. A scuffle ensues, George is knocked below deck injuring himself badly and the soldier is ordered to sleep it off below deck. Dawson continues heading toward France. En route they witness a Spitfire ditch in the sea, and going to its rescue they haul out RAF Pilot Collins (Jack Lowden) who was about to drown in the cockpit of his rapidly sinking Spitfire. They then come across a stricken minesweeper under attack by a German bomber, and manoeuvre the vessel to take on soldiers fleeing the listing ship and spilling oil heavily into the sea - among them Tommy and Alex.

In the air, RAF Pilot Farrier (Tom Hardy) and two others - Collins and their Squadron Leader fly low over the English Channel to provide air support to the troops on the ground in Dunkirk. Along the way they encounter a Luftwaffe plane which shoots down the Squadron Leader. Farrier and Collins continue towards France monitoring their dwindling fuel supply regularly. In another mid-air skirmish the pair take out another German plane, but Collins has sustained damage to his Spitfire and is forced to ditch at sea. Farrier continues on regardless unaware of what the outcome was for his flying mate. Getting closer to France Farrier must switch to reserve fuel now. He then witnesses the bombing of the minesweeper and the sinking of the trawler on which Tommy and Alex managed to swim free. Reaching Dunkirk he takes out the German bomber aircraft that was hampering the evacuation attempts, so saving ships and lives in the process. He runs out of fuel and glides along the beach to the rapturous applause of the soldiers below, seeking a landing spot on the sand. He brings his aircraft down gently on the sand but outside of the Allied perimeter. He torches his plane and as it erupts in a ball of flame with him looking on, so he is taken prisoner by German soldiers.

'Dunkirk' adds another dimension to the history of war films in cinema just as 'Saving Private Ryan' did in 1998. Without getting bogged down in the political agenda of the WWII era, or the labouring back story of the principle cast, or the rights and wrongs as seen by either side, here Christopher Nolan has crafted a war film that is very much of a moment in time from the perspective not of heroes, but of everyday men responding to extraordinary circumstances in differing situations. We have young foot soldiers doing what they can to survive - run, hide, duck and weave; we have an ageing father doing his bit for his country to help bring his boys back home in their hour of need; we have a fighter pilot with a do or die attitude; and we have a naval commander who simply gets the job done with the minimal amount of fuss and then hangs back to do it all over again. Knowing the truth behind the Dunkirk evacuation makes this all the more a grounded story, backed up by strong performances, a stirring score by Hans Zimmer, and masterful Direction and Cinematography courtesy of Hoyte van Hoytema (who also worked with Nolan on 'Interstellar'). If I had any criticism it would be that the characters are emotionally bereft. They are all stoic, stiff upper lip, never say die middle class Englishmen with their focus squarely on the job at hand, and a such it's a little tough investing in them, and, in addition what of the role of women here - women in this film are banished to handing out cups of tea and jam sandwiches to evacuating troops below decks, but history tells us that they had more important roles to play! All that said, the film is rousing, stirring, uniquely realised, and totally immersive, and a must see on the biggest screen you can possibly find, and ideally in 70mm.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-