Allied

Allied is definitely a simplification of history, but in a nice retro-Hollywood guise that makes us turn a blind eye to that fact. It is surprisingly not tacky, dramatic bordering on chilling due to the atmosphere of the period in which the story takes place. It is also perfectly directed with cool professionalism and without the tear-jerking we might expect from Robert Zemeckis, and without any grand love motifs we might expect from Alan Silvestri. Because such a well-written script with such a powerful story doesn't need any of that. The ending totally got me. (02/07/2017)

Robert Zemeckis is considered a visionary, but at the core, he is and will always be old-fashioned. And that old-fashionedness is insidious, because Allied pretend to be a Moroccan war trifle for a while, later transforms through intense action interludes into an honest drama, and then doesn't recoil from flirting with a good amount of tension. Over time, additional layers of storytelling are added, and in the end, there remains a taste of a pleasantly genre-defying spectacle that makes one forget about the overly drawn-out pace of the first act. (01/26/2017)

If it weren’t for the botoxed Brad Pitt and several scenes that reeked of Hollywood, where for instance a couple makes love in the midst of a sandstorm in Morroco and Marion Cotillard then gives birth during an air raid of London, I would be literally excited about the movie. I haven’t seen such great war atmosphere for a long time, which actually is no wonder. Robert Zemeckis is a great director and he’s truly great at creating high-quality atmospheres. The ending of the movie was also literally aced, but I guess Angelina Jolie probably wouldn’t share my excitement… (03/09/2017)

A film with Zemeckis’s perfect craftsmanship, powerfully emotional, atmospheric, with wonderful performances by Pitt and Cotillard, the nonchalant score by Silvestri, and sensitively photographed by Burgess, right on the scale of a soberly edited retro trip. A precisely balanced blend of romantic drama and dark historical backdrop that creates an immensely immersive aura and gradually builds under the cauldron to a chilling, crushingly unyielding finale. A small great cinematic event that will sadly fade quickly into obscurity, but it’s nonetheless a wonderful and valuable revelation in contemporary Hollywood conventions. 90% (02/16/2017)

Neither great nor terrible. As usual, the enemies run straight into the fire of the heroes, who are then able to leave the scene without any consequences. Then the film morphed into some sort of a romantic drama with war used only as a backdrop to the story. The situation was saved by the ending. A happy one would have clearly been unfortunate in this case. (04/09/2017)