Allied

Robert Zemeckis likes to dwell on the past, and all his famous films from the late 80s and early 90s are full of adventure, passion and joy that only the medium of cinema itself can convey. Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Death Becomes Her... They always had a touch of the good old days. And Allied is indeed the good old days, referencing Casablanca, serving up action, espionage, romance, not even parodying the scenes with the Nazis, just nostalgically remembering the time we romantically idealize. (02/26/2022)

Zemeckis and Burgess revel in subtle camera-special effects, but instead of a marital drama, they unwittingly chart a cheesy WWII romance where sex is the equivalent of a desert storm and a Luftwaffe precision strike family picnic. These images, painstakingly copied from Spielberg, including Williams' score, only prove that some genres are passé even for experienced storytellers. The film is subjectively four hours long. (01/25/2017)

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)

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)

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)