But when I heard the news that this biographical war drama would be shown on said platform. I did have a feeling this would be the first true cinematic experience that we would be losing.
I'm sorry to say that I feel I was right. But in some way, that is also a good thing as this was a thrilling and enjoyable watch.
From the beginning, the tension was constant and kept mounting up to some cool vintage wartime battles that made me fall in love with the genre all over again.
What made that start exciting for me, was how they portrayed the process of how decisions are made on a battleship. It was weirdly fascinating and satisfying that ramped up the tension perfectly. Not once did you feel alienated from the lingo. You knew exactly what was happening and who makes what orders.
Also, the use of the hand-held camerawork was effective during the interior scenes.
After that, the action still keeps moving along nicely. The momentum does somewhat lose its edge in the second half. I think the lack of character development may have been the reason.
Speaking of character, there is a lack of gravitas that you would expect in a film like this. We do have some nice little moments that felt like a nice change of pace from the action. But they don't last long enough to make this film more than just sea battle involving ships and submarines.
Thankfully we do have Tom Hanks quite literally at the helm. He does continue to have that expected presence on screen. While I don't feel this is an instantly memorable character to add to his back catalogue. There is still that sense of comfort whenever he is in control and doing his duty.
The rest of the cast as an ensemble do a really good job. That sense of authenticity was help by the supporting cast as well as Hanks. Notable mentions I have to give are Stephen Graham who continues to expand his list of major collaborations and Elizabeth Shue, who is always a delight to see on screen.
The visual effects play a key part and overall were pretty good. They gave a great sense of the environment everyone was experiencing. Plus, the mix of the sound design made for a true war battle.
For a feature that on paper sounds quite grand and epic in its scale, I was certainly not expecting to see the film I got in the end. It does enough to come in at 90 minutes, and is essentially a prolonged action sequence that catches some decent character moments, but has no intention of including sub-text.
While I would have liked some of the latter, the action does make up for it and gives you a true edge of your seat war action drama. Sometimes simplicity works and I think it did a good job of keeping me engaged for almost all of its duration.
This was most definitely the first film I have seen since lockdown that I felt needed to be seen on the big screen.
Rating: 7/10
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