From the moment I heard that Christopher Nolan was making a movie about the second World War, it became obvious to me that his primary motivation for doing this was to finally get himself in the Academy’s good graces. And after watching the film, it was clear from the first frame to the last that Nolan’s primary objective with this film is to finally win an Oscar, And to be fair, the man deserves it.

There’s no denying that this film is a phenomenal achievement. The film is incredibly immersive and drops you right into the action. It’s amazing from a visual standpoint but especially from an audio standpoint. I’m happy to say that we have our first LOCKED Oscar win of 2017, and it’s this film for Best Sound Editing.

But with that said, I do have a few issues with this film. It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that while Nolan may be an incredible director, he’s not always the best writer. Many of his films in the past have been criticized for their dialogue, but for Dunkirk, Nolan steers hard in the other direction. I normally don’t mind a lack of dialogue, but in this movie, I couldn’t even tell what anybody’s name was.

The editing is also a bit confusing, but I’m sure that it’ll make more sense on repeat viewings. The performances from the entire cast are very strong, with Cillian Murphy being the standout. This is a film that I’m sure will do very well with Oscars and I can understand why some people call this their favorite film of Nolan’s, even though it’s far from my favorite.

***1/2 out of ****