Dunkirk

I'll be the first one to admit that Dunkirk is a beautiful film and is masterfully shot but I can't say that I liked it. Christopher Nolan has a knack for playing with people's minds and he and Dunkirk is no exception. He begins the film with three different locations at three different time periods ranging from 1 week two three hours from the evacuation complete evacuation of Dunkirk. It is really interesting to watch how he combines the three different timelines to end the film at the exact point in each timeline. While interesting it is very confusing and took more than 20 minutes to understand that there he was using different timelines to tell the stories of the people who were on the beach, flying planes, and The Little Ships coming to the rescue. The performances are astounding throughout the film with the likes of Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance, even getting an acceptable performance out of One Direction singer Harry Styles. If you did not have the background of the film and even with it the film drags on and on trying to instill the idea of hopelessness felt by the soldiers but it is difficult to comprehend when the only German combatants that the audience sees are airplanes. There are also a number of dramatic scenes that appear to be instilled in the film to get an emotional response when they are completely unnecessary. One would think that the from the great mind of Christopher Nolan that he could come up with a better emotional gut punch then to easily debunked character deaths that have not had the proper character development for the audience to really care. Another disappointing aspect of the film is its portrayal of the French throughout the evacuation of Dunkirk. There are only two brief moments when it is acknowledged that the British did not care and actively resented the French while those same soldiers defended the rear lines and made it possible for the British to evacuate. And with a throwaway line at the end of the film by the Admiral commanding the beaches it is acknowledged that the British shoes original plan of abandoning the French is not right. It is simply acknowledged as a fact of war and only the strong survive. The ending of the film is also a disappointment as there is a masterful shot of Tom Hardy's pilot character performing a heroic gesture which would be the perfect ending only for Nolan to cut back to the soldier we have been following sitting on a train four five seconds with no more dialogue and a fade to black. The film was described to me as more of a documentary and I wholeheartedly agree except for the portrayal of survival is most important and not the lives of all. C+ rating

Spider-man: Homecoming

We all must leave home in order to discover ourselves but sometimes I'll return home is just what the doctor ordered. This is exactly what Spider-Man has done returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man was one of the best parts of Captain America Civil War and his character is built on in magnificent ways throughout homecoming. His witty charm, his lovable ignorance, and his comic book nerd like innocence is a breath of fresh air to the Marvel franchises. The one and only downside to the film is Tony Stark's inclusion, which to be fair was much less than anticipated. This film reiterates the problem with Tony Stark's Iron Man in all Marvel movies. In all films before Civil War he has been the Maverick or The Lovable Rebel to The Avengers but ever since Civil War Marvel have been trying to shoehorn him into the Now Noble hero. Instead of making him completely Noble they try to flirt with the line of keeping him Rogue like but also authoritarian. This comes off terribly when he scolds Peter Parker for going off and doing things on his own and blaming him for when things go wrong on plans he does not tell Peter about. Luckily Spider-Man is able to carry most the film on his own with his comedic dialogue and his new guy in the chair John something or other. Refreshingly his love interest is neither Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane and can be given a fresh take on prepubescent crushes. There an awesome Easter egg to his other love interests near the end of the film leaving it open for Marvel to either take a big leap from the comics or walk it back in the next film. This film critic cannot wait for the next film with Spider-Man and that is coming from someone who has become disillusioned with the idea of Marvel's Universe. A- rating