Watching this for the first time in 2025, I acknowledge that how I perceived it, and my visceral resistance to several of it's tropes (like the white savior), shouldn't take away from the artistic achievement. It's affecting, gripping, considered, well-acted, and ultimately conjures a wide range of feelings as all great movies should.
The film is raw in how it portrays the nightmare that was the Holocaust. It adds an air of authenticity initially, but eventually starts to feel like…
Very conventional film. Indeed, Fassbender responding "Fun and games..." when Blanchett asks what's on the menu, whether it's a deliberate Save The Cat callback or not, is a testament to how by-the-book the beats are. Symptom or cause--the movie didn't conjure any intense moments of emotionality for me.
Still, the execution is absolutely superb, and I'd struggle to argue against this being a perfect film. It immerses you into the world of spycraft with very few crutches, yet with Soderbergh…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Don't think this film will be very rewatchable, which is unfortunate because I do think it warrants multiple viewings. I don't have much fealty to the "theatrical experience", but am really happy I saw this in a theater. The experience also had me reflecting on whether it's possible for me to compare movies like this to others on a level playing field. And by "movies like this", I mean movies where the discourse around it sets my expectations so high…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Headline Prediction: 10 years from now, this film will be re-evaluated in the critical community as a masterpiece. Ok, maybe not a masterpiece.. but definitely a cult classic. I thought the movie was quite good, and view some of the derisive criticism I've read (see the great Wesley Morris' NYT review) as misguided.
The notion that the movie is more focused on stunts and flare than real character development and emotional beats is overblown in my opinion. In addition to…
