Eunju Ahn

Spoiler alert! This review is only for those who have seen the movie and did not like it. ******************************************************* I couldn't wrap my mind around the premise of this movie, that such an accomplished man who has everything will risk everything to stalk and get back a very average-looking woman in her 30s who does have nothing to recommend herself apart from the fact that she judges the man and finds him wanting and wants to leave him. I don't understand male ego and I don't want to understand male ego that makes this movie plausible. So many dumb tricks, such as the invisible man, who is not a spirit, but a man with a heavy suit, would climb up and leave his cellphone in the attic, with some stupid layout prints. This batsuit makes the man not only invisible, but turns him into a veritable hulk. The black cop, what a Mcguffin, why does she stay with the single father and the daughter even after she came into some money, when there is not one ounce of romance between him and Cecilia? And she sleeps in the same bed with a teenager?? Such an infuriatingly stupid movie, it drapes itself in political correctness galore in the form of diversity, this diversity now is fast becoming a serious detriment to realism and artistry.

I saw this movie last night. I am a woman with no experience of war or army life. I know next to nothing about the military, guns or fighting, yet there were so many unanswered questions in my mind as to verisimilitude in this movie. The following questions popped up in my mind in the course of watching the movie. First off, if carrying a message warning an ambush is such an important mission, why choose these young soldiers with no particularly distinguishing skills? Just because a soldier has a brother and has a grave emotional stake in reaching the destination, the command picks him and lets HIM to choose an accompanying solider. And then why send only two soldiers on such an important mission? I understand from reading WWI history that soldiers fought the trench war inch by inch, and there were a stalemate for long stretches of time because of that. Yet the Germans would be so bold as to vacate this wide swath of territory for a deceptive tactic which may pay off, but then maybe not? Sure the British found out about the dumb gamble soon enough. There was a trip wire but the force of explosion is not strong enough to bring down the entire structure immediately? The Germans must be terrible mechanics. The dust on the buried soldier soon fell off after a stroll on the field. Who was milking the cow in the shed? Why was the cow still alive and well-fed? Where were the sudden military trucks going? After a soldier was stabbled suddenly there were a swarm of soliders, where did they come from? Why did the convoy leave the lone soldier to his own devices when they could have spared one or two soldiers to accompany him on this vital mission? Who was the French girl dressed in French-chic style, and what was up with the well-fed, well-adjusted orphan baby who never cried but who was supposed to be starving. At the beginning of the movie, the two soldiers were hungry and had to share a piece of terrible sandwich. Yet they were sent out withough being fed. The solidiers were carrying ample rations all the time? How is it possible that the wounded and fatigued (and starving) man could strangle a healthy tall German soldier to death with minimum resistance? How did he not survive in the rapids and how did his wounds heal and clear by the time he encountered the dead soldier's brother? How come his notes and pictures stayed dry and undamaged in his unbuttoned breast pocket while he was jumping over obstacles, dodging, falling in the waterfall and being submerged in white water? When "Mark Strong" advised the soldier to have somebody present when reporting to the officer because that man likes to fight, I expected a violent denouement, but "Cumbabatch" complied with General's order too easily. I wondered at the ease with which the entire squadron trusted this solidier out of nowhere. Nobody suspects him of being a German spy. Overall, the story was unbelievable and several scenes were totally unconvincing. Emotionally bland. I had a feeling that it was a choreography, not a drama. Not unworthy of viewing, but hugely overrated. This is a dumb movie. The moviemaker could not handle the scale or the theme and made a very shoddy, poorly researched movie. Or maybe knew he was cutting corners but trusted the stupidity of moviegoers.