Dunkirk is based on the true story of 400,000 British soldiers who were surrounded by enemy forces on the beaches of Dunkirk, France during WWII and the efforts to evacuate these troops with the help of civilians and ordinary sailors. The film is told from 3 different perspectives (the land, air, and sea) and features different periods of time for each event taking place from each point of view.
I'm a huge fan of Christopher Nolan since he's directed some of my favorite films (ex. The Dark Knight Trilogy, Memento, Inception, etc). Throughout his career, he has continued to impress audiences by taking over a genre that's been explored numerous times before (superhero, space, murder-mystery) yet still being able to make it his own through his unique style of complex characters, nonlinear story structure, and human/psychological themes. So naturally, I was excited to see what he could do with a historical war film that's strangely being released in the summer.
Honestly, watching Dunkirk in IMAX was one of the best movie experiences I've had. Once this movie begins, it is a non-stop survival thriller from start to finish. It shows characters who are merely trying to escape from this dangerous situation as well as people on boats who are trying to help + and the fighter pilots battling the enemy planes.
One of the things I loved about this movie was how real planes + boats along with practical effects were used to establish the tense atmosphere. It really shows the audience what these individuals were going through at this time during the war and how they would respond in such a situation (whether it be disguising oneself as a soldier, acting extremely nervous, or risking lives on sea or by air to rescue the soldiers).
The characters, as a whole, don't particularly stand out or receive as much backstory as one would expect in most war films. However, this movie is entirely focused on the event of the evacuation and what these characters did at this event. Therefore, there isn't enough time for audiences to fully connect a certain individual.
When watching this movie, I mainly connected with these people as human beings rather than traditional heroes or patriots embracing a bloody atmosphere of war. This seems to be the message that Nolan is trying to convey in this movie, which is a benefit since it separates itself from other war films as its own unique thriller. 
The performances from Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy (and even Harry Styles) are all very good. Each actor properly sells their intense emotions dealing with the evacuation + how their motivations are based primarily on survival and simply needing to help/raise the spirit of other soldiers.
Hans Zimmer's instrumental score is very gripping throughout the entire movie + sets the film's intense atmosphere through mixing his signature loud "BWAM" noises with the sound of a continuous ticking from a pocket-watch to slowly build the never-ending tension.
Lastly, the cinematography is amazing (especially in the IMAX 70mm format) as it displays long, continuous takes of planes flying + crashing down, ships sinking, close ups of actor's faces, etc. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that the 2nd-to-last frame of this movie is one of the best shots in a film I've seen in recent memory (you'll know it when you see it).
The film's structure can get a little confusing for people on the 1st viewing. Similar to Memento and Inception, Nolan does time jump between certain character situations to progress the plot. However like all of Nolan's films, Dunkirk needs to be rewatched and reanalyzed to observe certain events in another viewpoint and piece together events mentally in chronological order.
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| A normal screen vs an IMAX screen |
With Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan has again knocked out of the park by crafting another ambitious masterpiece that will likely stand alongside other great war films (Saving Private Ryan, Platoon) for its uniqueness in story structure, handing of characters, and crisp cinematography.
I highly recommend this movie, especially in IMAX! It's one of the best films of 2017!
My rating: 5/5 stars :)
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