1917 Film Review

Film fans here are with my final film review of 2019 and what a film to go out on i'll openly admit to stopping work on another post just so I could see this film. I will also admit that as a James Bond fan I was excited to see this film just because Sam Mendes is the one directing and also because I kind of have a soft spot for war films I won't go and see every war film ever made but the one's that I do see are generally really good ans o here is my review of the final film to be released this year 1917 enjoy film fans.

The plot of the film is two soldiers have just at least day to walk nine miles in enemy territory in order to give warning that their fellow soldiers are about to walk into a trap and one of them soldiers just so happens to be the brother of one of our protagonists. One thing that I should mention is that this is during World War 1 so you can imagine how tense it would be even going a yard behind enemy lines but back to the story I honestly felt that it was really good and was honestly really engaging which is something that i've not been able to say recently and so to say it here with the final film of the year is truly something in my opinion.

Starring in the film is George MacKay as Lance Corporal William Schofield , Dean-Charles Chapman as Lance Corporal Tom Blake , Mark Strong as Captain Smith , Andrew Scott as Lieutenant Leslie , Richard Madden as Lieutenant Blake , Claire Duburcq as Lauri , Colin Firth as General Erinmore , Benedict Cumberbatch as Colonel Mackenzie , Daniel Mays as Sergeant Sanders , Adrian Scarborough as Major Hepburn , Jamie Parker as Lieutenant Richards , Michael Jibson as Lieutenant Hutton , Richard McCabe as Colonel Collins , Nabhaan Rizwan as Sepoy and Michael Cornelius as Private Cornelius.

In all honesty the acting in the film was something that I really did enjoy more then any other aspect of the film. Simply because the actors fit the roles that they were playing so well and they managed to transform into the characters that they were playing so to me I wasn't seeing an actor playing a character I was seeing the character go through these events and that is something that i've honestly never said before now because i've never had a reason to until now.

In something that is a rather bold move the film is made to look like it was filmed in one continues take. Doing one long take for one scene is hard enough but to do that for a whole film is very difficult heck it's difficult to do a movie with lots of cuts anyway but here everything needs to hit the right spot and the actors need to time there delivery's perfectly and while I don't doubt there are a few cuts hidden in the film the fact that they even did the film this way is commendable in of itself.

Now i've not made this a spoiler review because I want you guys to go and see this film and experience it while knowing very little about what actually happens. That being said there is something that happens in this film which I felt to be quite shocking and it's a scene where everything just comes together perfectly and it's also an example of real war and so i'm glad that Sam kept true to what war is and how bad it is and how surprising it is all in one scene.

I do have some issues with the film tho like the fact that because the film is mostly spent with these two soldiers the film can seem quite boring at times. Adding to that dullness is the dialog heavy scenes which honestly could have put me to sleep a few times while watching the film but that was only a very minor issues at least to me it was I would understand if people didn't like the film or found it boring tho.

However something which is a little harder to get past at least in my opinion is the fact that for large portions of the film nothing exciting is happening. I get that this is a war film and all of that jazz but at the same time this is also a film and that does mean that there needs to be exciting scenes they don't have to involve any explosions all that you need to do is get your blood pumping and that's it nothing more.

This film is honestly very emotional which is something that I never thought i'd say from a Sam Mendes film. I guess it's to be expected that this is an emotional film given the subject matter but at the same time it was very unexpected just because you think that the story is going to go one way but when that scene happens it changes things and it makes you wonder what else could happen and what else would make me feel this emotion.

There's a clear love and passion gone into this story which isn't really surprising when you know the fact that Sam's grandfather Alfred Mendes told Sam stories that inspired him to make this film. He even dedicated the film to his grandfather which is something that he didn't have to do and it goes to show that when you have a clear passion for something as well as a clear vision for something you;ll end up with a gem like this film.

There is shockingly a lot of action in this film and that does mean that we have to talk about the action in the film itself. I will admit that the film does have very limited amounts of action but the acting that it does have is honestly really well done but at the same time due to the fact that all of the characters are using guns it does kind of feel the same but that's nothing that could have been helped tho.

Overall this was a great film to end the year one and it's made my next post even harder to put together. Like I say this isn't a perfect film but it's highly worthy of all the praise that it's getting and I hope that more people do go to see the film just because a swell as seeing the big blockbuster films we should also take the time to go and see this little known films as well and so this film gets an 8.5 out of 10 from me.