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#5 Unbroken 2014
After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Director
Angelina Jolie
Writer
Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring
Jack O'Connell, Takamasa Ishihara, Domhnall Gleeson
Being very much a fan of the War genre, I headed into this fairly excited. I had my reservations about Angelina Jolie directing, but she didn't do too bad a job. Other than Jack O'Connell, I thought the rest of the cast was rather average. No one really stood out to me; the only possible exception being Domhnall Gleeson.
In many parts of the movie, but most noticeably in the first act, I found the movie trying to play on the audiences emotions. The music started to swell up and little instances became exploited into huge deals for everyone involved. It just felt like too much for me, especially right at the start of the movie. I would've much rather they slowly work the audience in so when Louis Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) does get shot down, we actually feel for him and are devoted to his journey. I found myself not really carrying too much for any of the soldiers at sea because I felt like i didn't really know them well enough.
Next, we follow Zamperini and two fellow soldiers stranded at sea in what feels like forever. I'm not sure if it only felt long or if it actually was long, but either way I felt that whole sequence was far too tedious for my liking. When Zamperini finally gets to the POW Camp, I finally thought that the movie would pick itself up and really start to shine. I was wrong. Jolie really doesn't have much interest in introducing the other POW's to us, so they feel very expendable. In certain scenes when punishment was carried it, the audience again had no connection or investment in them.
For the role of the harsh Japanese corporal "The Bird", was Takamasa Ishihara. Apparently this guy is in a Japanese rock band or something, which makes it kind of an odd casting choice to start off with. To be honest though, I just didn't buy him. He didn't intimidate me, or scare me, or made me think "Wow, I really wouldn't want to piss this guy off!"
Despite its shortcomings, it's not entirely bad. About average would be a fair assessment. Perhaps due to my love of war movies my expectations are too high; but I don't suspect this to be the case. Unbroken is just an average movie that has some nice scenes, but overall doesn't cut it.
After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Director
Angelina Jolie
Writer
Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring
Jack O'Connell, Takamasa Ishihara, Domhnall Gleeson
Being very much a fan of the War genre, I headed into this fairly excited. I had my reservations about Angelina Jolie directing, but she didn't do too bad a job. Other than Jack O'Connell, I thought the rest of the cast was rather average. No one really stood out to me; the only possible exception being Domhnall Gleeson.
In many parts of the movie, but most noticeably in the first act, I found the movie trying to play on the audiences emotions. The music started to swell up and little instances became exploited into huge deals for everyone involved. It just felt like too much for me, especially right at the start of the movie. I would've much rather they slowly work the audience in so when Louis Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) does get shot down, we actually feel for him and are devoted to his journey. I found myself not really carrying too much for any of the soldiers at sea because I felt like i didn't really know them well enough.
Next, we follow Zamperini and two fellow soldiers stranded at sea in what feels like forever. I'm not sure if it only felt long or if it actually was long, but either way I felt that whole sequence was far too tedious for my liking. When Zamperini finally gets to the POW Camp, I finally thought that the movie would pick itself up and really start to shine. I was wrong. Jolie really doesn't have much interest in introducing the other POW's to us, so they feel very expendable. In certain scenes when punishment was carried it, the audience again had no connection or investment in them.
For the role of the harsh Japanese corporal "The Bird", was Takamasa Ishihara. Apparently this guy is in a Japanese rock band or something, which makes it kind of an odd casting choice to start off with. To be honest though, I just didn't buy him. He didn't intimidate me, or scare me, or made me think "Wow, I really wouldn't want to piss this guy off!"
Despite its shortcomings, it's not entirely bad. About average would be a fair assessment. Perhaps due to my love of war movies my expectations are too high; but I don't suspect this to be the case. Unbroken is just an average movie that has some nice scenes, but overall doesn't cut it.