1917 [IMAX]

The camera work for this film was astounding. Just give Roger Deakins his Best Cinematography award now. Together with the superbly edited pseudo-one shot (or actually more like two long tracking shots), Director Sam Mendes and his co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns have crafted an immersive and thoroughly exciting 2-hour war film. It was relentless in its action, with non-stop excitement and fantastically tense scenes. However, that being said the moments of quiet and tenderness that peppered the film ended up being well-earned and well-deserving; these quieter scenes allowed the film and the audience to breathe which was essential given the rapid pacing propelled by the long shot film.

The story itself was simple and Mendes told it in a relatively straightforward three-act structure with one large action set-piece/sequence each. However, one of the biggest fault in the storytelling was the obstacles that was laid before our protagonists which at times seemed rather contrived. Then again, we are watching a film and cinematic cliches sometimes have to occur, but that does then diminishes the film's originality.

Mendes was smart to cast George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman in the lead roles, because they were good actors that could carry the dramatic and emotional weight of the film, but also being lesser known, their visage do not distract too much from the storytelling and the technical accomplishments. This was unlike the big British stars who were cast in otherwise glorified cameo roles that kind of distracted and brings you out - albeit just temporarily - of the story.

And MacKay was excellent throughout. He gave one of the best performances of 2019 and especially given the difficulty to emote "spontaneously" given the long-shot execution. With this and Captain Fantastic, MacKay's star is definitely rising.

Chapman was also a solid buddy for McKay but he was definitely the more supporting role than lead as MacKay was.

Thomas Newman's score was also a beautiful match for the film. It drove and propelled the action, and helped to underscore the emotional beats. It was nearly present throughout the whole film and any moments of absence was used to highlight a situation.

But nothing beats Deakins incredible cinematography! Sure, initially it was quite distracting to figure out where the cuts/edits would be, but once we got past the opening sequence, everything seemed quite natural. This one-shot technique really helped to lend immediacy and urgency to the story. At some points, it was literally breath-taking as the action unfolded. And cued with Newman's score, the film was a visual and aural pleasure.

The film should definitely be watched in a big screen and it was entirely formatted to fill the screen for IMAX which was superb!

This film is going to sweep up tons of nominations. It is definitely will be in the running for the Oscar for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, Editing, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Unfortunately, it will be a long shot for McKay for Best Actor (that #5 spot will be a tough battle).