Dunkirk

Dunkirk - Trailer 1 [HD]
I wasn't impressed, though maybe it's hard to make a compelling story out of a disaster. The story follows a small group of soldiers as they get on board one doomed boat after another. The only indications we have that the evacuation was a massive effort was Wallander spouting some numbers and the occasional panoramic view of endless queues of soldiers standing on the beach waiting for boats to come take them back to England.

Some of the stuff struck me as contrived, like the Spitfire pilot who can't get his canopy open after he has ditched his fighter in the English Channel and it is rapidly filling with water. And then there was the scene where a destroyer loaded with troops gets bombed and starts sinking and nobody inside the common room can open the door to the outside, once again while the water level is rising. A guy on the outside has to open it. Yes, these things could have happened, but they really don't do anything for the story. They just serve to keep you on the edge of your seat, and they don't do that very well because you get that feeling that you've been set up and someone will come along and rescue them.