This was one strange movie. I had very little knowledge about the film despite it being a major movie released in the US cinemas this week. I saw the poster few weeks ago and was unfamiliar with the cast and not sure what the plot was all about. Not until around 2 weeks ago when I first saw the trailer prior to another movie. Even then I was a bit doubtful, though there was a hint of monster or whatever which made it a bit interesting. Yesterday when the movie finally played, I saw it was having Dolby Atmos sound effect and played in the cinema with such system near my home and it also played in IMAX studios. So I thought it must good movie. Well to cut the story short, let's get down to the movie itself.
Brief Story Line
Set during the World War 2, a group of US military soldiers were deployed into the German territory near a small village in France. Their target was to destroy the radio tower so that the major attacks by the Allied countries could be successful. The team consisted of several soldiers which include the explosive expert Corporal Ford (Wyatt Russel - Goon: Last of the Enforcers, Table 19 etc), the kind hearted soldier Boyce (Jovan Adepo - Fences etc), the very talkative Tibbet (John Magaro - The Finest Hours etc), the private who wanted to write books Dawson (Jacob Anderson) and Chase (Iain De Caestecker - Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D TV series etc) who loved to take photos.
These guys managed to reach the village with the help from a french woman named Chloe (Mathilde Ollivier). Their mission though would not be so easy, especially with the appearance of a German soldier Wafner (Pilou Asbæk - Ghost in the Shell etc). The mission also got sidetracked a bit when they found out there was very bad experiments conducted by the Nazis below the radio tower.
So what were the experiments for? Could this small team complete their mission safely? Find them all in this gruesome violent action movie.
End of Brief Story Line
Apparently my insistence on seeing this movie in a Dolby Atmos studio really paid off. It was truly an amazing experience. The movie was filled with so many awesome scenes that were utilizing the sound effects to the maximum. During the fight scenes we could hear the glasses shattering sounds like we were there, or during the gun shoot scenes where the sounds of bullets flying around were very realistic and so many more. You would definitely be amazed by those sound effects, just like my wife and I did.
Aside from those wonderful sound effects, the movie was also filled with great make up effects which was apparent in the scenes in the middle and towards the end. And even though the movie was set mostly during the night because the mission must be completed before the morning attack, we could see all of them very clearly. Although I could not say for other theaters with different screen quality which may not give the comfort especially if they were so dark. Anyway, both of us could enjoy the movie even if a lot of scenes were shown in the dark.
Throughout the movie, I also felt almost nonstop suspense and intensity. The first few minutes was more like introduction of the characters, but once the planes reached the location, then it was mostly action all the way. There were also some nice dramatic touches in the middle of the movie, but what was enjoyable as well were the occasional jump scare scenes. There was 1 particular scene which despite I could guess there would be one, I still got the shock (my wife went to the toilet during this part and she was rather grateful she did not see that). Although she was still surprised at one scene towards the end.
Being a movie set during the World War, obviously there would be war scenes as well, but they were not the main focus here. The opening scene and the climax scene were awesome! I truly enjoyed the scene of jumping down the plane using the parachute and of course that final scene involving Boyce (played quite nicely by Jovan Adepo whom I never saw before). But there were two scenes cut by the Indonesian censorship body which I thought was peculiar since there were other scenes which qualified as a more disturbing violent scene that was not touched. Not sure about the reasons. So yeah, this movie had an R rating and categorized as 17+ in Indonesia and therefore it was definitely not suitable for children.
As an action movie, with a bit of horror (due to few horrific images), and a touch of mystery as well, I thought this movie was really good. I was entertained by the film and the 108 minutes duration felt just nice. There was no mid or post end credit scene in here. This movie was directed by Julius Avery who previously directed mostly short movies and produced by J.J Abrams, the man behind few Star Trek, Star Wars, Mission: Impossible movies but mainly as the man who created Cloverfield universe. In fact this one was said to be the fourth Cloverfield movie, but after seeing this one, I could say it is definitely not.
Overall, this was an entertaining movie. I really enjoyed it, though those 2 cut scenes a bit ruined my satisfaction. But mostly I thought it was a good action movie. The story was made very simple without over complication of the plot. If people are looking for wonderful scenario and other such qualities in the movie, I could not say they would be entertained by it. But those looking for fun, good old fashion non stop action during the World War 2 era, then this would be a valid choice. And do not forget to see this in theater with Dolby Atmos sound system as it would totally blow you away!
Happy watching!
Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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