1917 is the new film by Sam Mendes who made Skyfall and Spectre the 2 previous James Bond films but this movie takes place in April 1917 where 2 young soldiers (George Mackay and Dean Charles-Chapman) must make a treacherous journey behind enemy lines to prevent an attack on enemy territory that will end in a massacre of 1600 soldiers but the journey will prove perilous for our young soldiers.
1917 is very very well crafted and at the top of that list is Mr Mendes himself, he directs the film to look like it was all done in one long continuous take and for the vast majority of the film this technique works very well and along with cinematographer Roger Deakins crafts a very immersive experience that is well worth seeing on the big screen with a good sound system, one sequence in a bombed out town at night is particularly good and on more than one occasion I was on the edge of my seat watching every frame to see if they would find the enemy or a mine or a gunshot from afar it works that well.
The 2 young actors Mr Mackay and Mr Charles-Chapman are also very good in the film, they are asked to carry a lot of this movie and they pull it off very well especially Mr Mackay who really steps up to the plate and does a great job while the 2 young actors rattle off stories to each other in a way that never feels boring to watch, there are also some great cameos by Mr Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott and Benedict Cumberbatch in small scenes.
If I have a complaint about this movie however I have to say that the one continuous shot trick does start to wear a little thin once you get to the end of the film and as a result the film as a whole starts to feel a little long at nearly 2 hours whereas Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk was only 107 minutes and the film was stronger for it in that it didn’t let its time bending techniques overstay its welcome and also the one continuous take approach at times made me think I’m watching Call of Duty: 1917 where you walk around the levels and explore every nook and cranny to find something useful and look it creates an immersive experience a lot of the time but there were times where it felt like a video game.
And so that was 1917 a film that is well worth watching on the big screen but one that I was happy to watch once but not go back to in a big hurry, 3 and a half out of 5.
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