Dunkirk Review: 8 Ups & 2 Downs

Ups...

8. The Incredible Structure & Editing

Though the marketing seemed to suggest that Dunkirk is in fact a fairly straightforward war film, Nolan has actually concocted a rather fiendish spin on the genre, with an ambitious, almost Pulp Fiction-esque structure which attempts to sustain the movie's action and suspense for its entire run-time rather than leave all the good stuff to the end.

While this has the potential to confuse audiences who aren't expecting it or not fully paying attention, thanks to Lee Smith's excellent and probably Oscar-winning editing, Nolan judiciously cuts between the land, sea and air segments to create a virtually non-stop thrill-ride.

Some might see the structural approach as unnecessary for such an inherently riveting and urgent story, but it nevertheless does a fantastic job further differentiating the film from the glut of other war movies out there.