Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan's crowning achievement

There are few in Hollywood who can craft a visual marvel quite like Christopher Nolan.  He has re-defined the superhero movie with his Batman trilogy, and has also created the best mainstream action movie of the 2000's in Interstellar.  I look forward to his films more than any other director in Hollywood, except perhaps Quentin Tarantino.  His films aren't just run of the mill action fests... they're must-see events.  Needless to say, I was looking forward to this film more than any other this year (with the exception of the next Star Wars entry).  I can happily report that Dunkirk is an absolute masterpiece and it stands as the high water mark in Nolan's distinguished career.  There isn't a single wasted frame in the entire film.

The story of Dunkirk is one that I, sadly, was not really aware of.  The stakes are extremely high.  It takes place in 1940, well before America enters the foray of World War II.  The Brits and their allies are backed up to Dunkirk beach in France and are literally surrounded by the Germans on all sides.  No less than the fate of the free world is at stake.  These soldiers are literal sitting ducks, hoping to not be picked off by the mighty German war machine before they can be rescued across a short 26 mile stretch of ocean.  Large ships are mowed down by German U-Boats, so it's up to a fleet of civilian ships to head stright into a warzone and rescue their brethren.  Nolan throws you right into the action.  He wisely discards any and all back story and throws his audience right into the battle.  Like the opening to Saving Private Ryan (a personal favorite of mine), Dunkirk excels at bringing its audience to within a stones throw of the brutality of war.  It's an adrenaline rush from start to finish, and I found myself clenching my chair throughout its entirety.  The battle is told through three perspectives:  The land, air, and sea.  It's brilliantly edited out of sequence, leaving the audience to experience different levels of trauma throughout it.

At 106 minutes, Dunkirk is Nolan's shortest film.  However, you feel every single one of those 106 minutes.  Hans Zimmer delivers a brilliant score that only adds to the drama (I'll never hear a stopwatch the same way again).  It's largely a dialogue free film, however that's not a knock against it.  I'd argue that the score is more important than any piece of dialogue in the film.  It builds and builds as the tension mounts until you find yourself exhaling at the end of the film, having held your breath through most of it.

That's not to say that there aren't great performances in it.  Newcomer, Fionn Whitehead is how the audience experiences most of the film.  He is the representation of the 400,000 soldiers trapped on the beach.  His dread is their dread.  Tom Hardy plays an air force fighter pilot in charge of the aerial rescue.  Oscar winner Mark Rylance delivers a deeply personal performance as one of the civilian boat rescuers.  Kenneth Branagh and Harry Styles fill out the cast with superb performances.

This film deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible.  Sadly, I did not get a chance to see it on an IMAX screen, which left me a little disappointed.  Nolan is the master of practical effects, and he filled his beaches with thousands of extras and as many real ships and planes as he could get his hands on.  I'm greatly anticipating the making of features on the Blu-Ray disc.

Dunkirk is the best movie I've seen this year.  It's a story about bravery, honor, and sacrifice.  4 out of 4 stars.  It delivers on every level and proves that Nolan is a master of suspense and emotion (a knock on him prior to this film).  Go see it!