Dunkirk: First Reactions to Chris Nolan’s War Movie Just Went Online

Christopher Nolan made a name for himself by redefining the superhero movie genre with The Dark […]

November 8, 2017, 3:34pm

Christopher Nolan made a name for himself by redefining the superhero movie genre with The Dark Knight Trilogy, and creating mind-bending and eye-catching sci-fi thrillers like Inception and Interstellar – however, his latest film, Dunkirk is a major departure for the acclaimed director.

As you can see in the synopses below, Dunkirk tells the story of one of WWII’s most brutal conflicts, which Nolan has structured as an intense psychological thriller. Whenever a director breaks from his/her usual mold, it’s always a risk; will Nolan fans embrace this new path the filmmaker is embarking on (historical drama)? Or is Dunkirk going to be the first big flop of Nolan’s career?

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Now that the first Dunkirk reactions are online (posted by press who’ve seen the film), we are getting our first idea of the answer to the question above.

SYNOPSIS: Dunkirk follows the evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire, Canada, and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France, between May 26- June 04, 1940, during Battle of France in World War II.

The Big Hype

Steve “Frosty” Weintraub at Collider has the following glowing praise to share about Nolan’s war Movie:

Dunkirk is edge of your seat filmmaking that’s fully realized in @IMAX. Can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it. See this in IMAX! pic.twitter.com/7F10lnBB5U
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) July 10, 2017

Also ‘Dunkirk’ is another brilliant collaboration between Nolan & @HansZimmer. The way he mixes in a ticking clock with score is nail biting pic.twitter.com/3lRSs3upPI
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) July 10, 2017

Silent But Thrilling

Anna Klassen of Bustle points to how Dunkirk uses sound and music over dialogue in order to create it’s thrilling atmosphere:

DUNKIRK relies on v little dialogue, but is entirely impactful. We all know what happened on that beach, but Nolan’s take is worth visiting.
— Anna Klassen (@AnnaJKlassen) July 10, 2017

Yes, DUNKIRK relies heavily on sound of an increasingly fast ticking clock to build suspense. It may be a cheap trick, but it’s effective AF
— Anna Klassen (@AnnaJKlassen) July 10, 2017

Character Flaws

Christopher Nolan catches flack fro being a cerebral director who sometimes lacks heart – a sentiment that boils down to a lot of the characters in his films (see: Interstellar). While Dunkirk is receiving a lot of praise, Eric Eisenberg of Cinemablend still sees some character flaws:

Dunkirk is thrilling, beautiful & a must in 70mm IMAX – but it’s also hard to ignore that it has zero distinctive personalities/characters.
— (((Eric Eisenberg))) (@eeisenberg) July 10, 2017

Crowd Splitter

Entertainment personality Alicia Malone thinks that Dunkirk will split viewer – especially those who aren’t really prepared for the movie’s “silent film” approach:

DUNKIRK: intense! 3 intercutting stories on 3 time frames. Almost a silent film, w/ incredible score. May be divisive. I LOVED. See 70mm! pic.twitter.com/E6Xga21Skm
— Alicia Malone (@aliciamalone) July 10, 2017

Hardy Power

Entertainment reporter Kara Warner has similar praise as others for Dunkirk, with one notable distinction: putting the spotlight on Nolan’s new go-to man, Tom Hardy, who is said to have barely any spoken lines of dialogue in the film:

#DunkirkMovie is great. Beautiful, heart-pounding action sequences, a killer score, solid acting talent & handsome. A great history lesson
— Kara Warner (@karawarner) July 10, 2017

And my Tom Hardy bias is strong but hot damn, Mr. Nolan knows how to light our man in the best, that-is-a-goddam-hero, fashion #DunkirkMovie
— Kara Warner (@karawarner) July 10, 2017

Photo Credit: Warner Bros Entertainment / Melinda Sue Gordon