As Spielberg's career moves
on, his talent is going in two different ways; his technical ability
continues to improve and amaze, but his emotional manipulation seems to be
becoming more cynical and blatant. I mean, starting (and finishing!) with
the Stars and Stripes is crass beyond belief; I don't mind an Amero-centric
view of the war, but some acknowledgement of other nations' involvement
might have been nice -- even Independence Day wasn't that
jingoistic. [And let's not even start the "...and where were they
for the first three years?" thing...] Dramatically, it's a mess: I remain
unconvinced that any official - or at least, any unelected one - would
demand a mission to rescue one grunt. It's the kind of courageous idiocy
permissible in a Bruce Willis movie: here, it stabs the film's structure in
the heart. Oh, and I'm equally unconvinced of Hanks' acting abilities.
Okay, plot not credible, lead actor weak: two big strikes. Now look at
the TC rating at the end: B+. Shurely shome mishtake? No, because when in
motion, this is superb. The first thirty minutes are relentless, although
gratuitous beyond the dreams of Lucio Fulci (unless you weren't aware that
war is hell), especially in a movie pushing three hours. But it's the
finale, with the Americans facing the Germans for control of a crucial
bridge, which captures the senses. The set-up is 'Aliens', a small force,
with limited resources, forced to confront a far superior enemy with
ingenuity and courage, and the execution is equally as good. Of course, the
valour and purpose on view denies the message of the opening sequence,
where futilely dying like cattle is as good as war gets.
Thus, a complete abortion as a drama, but as a war film, it pulls no
punches, and delivers everything you'd want. And on that basis:
B+