Movie Review – The Imitation Game (2014)

Director: Morten Tyldum

Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong, Charles Dance, Allen Leech, Rory Kinnear, Matthew Beard

The Imitation Game is the story of Alan Turing (Cumberbatch) as he and a team of cryptologists race against time to try and break the seemingly impossible German Enigma code, while also showing the tragic events of his later life.

The Imitation Game floats between three time periods. The main chunk of the film is around WWII, but it also jumps between his childhood a school and then his later life when he gets burgled and a tenacious detective starts to look into Turing’s past. I thought each of these periods were interesting to watch but I found it strange how some of them were marked with a date and location while others weren’t. Still, it’s not difficult to tell which time period is being focused on.

I found the plot about Enigma fascinating, as most war films focus on the blood and thunder of the battlefield (which makes for more epic and rousing cinema). I liked how it focused on the puzzle of the code, and Tyldum was able to eke out surprising tension from watching dials on a machine rotate. There are scenes of warfare thrown in though, so one never forgets that there is a horrible conflict going on. Cumberbatch has received many plaudits for his performance already so all I’m going to say is that they’re well deserved. The rest of the cast give strong performances as well, most notably Keira Knightley who shows a steely resolve.

I liked the kind of brain trust and the dynamics of the team, because no-one really liked or trusted Turing. At one point during the film it’s revealed that there’s a Soviet spy working for the codebreakers, but nobody seems that worried about it and it’s almost forgotten about. In fact I had wondered whether it was all a ploy to set Turing up, since after they proved it wasn’t him it wasn’t really mentioned again until much later. I did, however, love the ethical and moral decisions that they had to make towards the latter end of the film.

I thought The Imitation Game was pretty good. The treatment of him for being homosexual certainly sheds a light on a horrible part of our history and it’s awful that anyone should have had to gone through that, let alone a man who should be (and now is) considered a war hero.

Movie Review – Fury (2014)

Director: David Ayer

Stars: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBoeuf, Jon Bernthal, Michael Pena, Logan Lerman

Fury tells the story of the American tanks during WWII. Don (Brad Pitt) leads his crew on dangerous missions against the Nazis, whose tanks are more powerful. Joining them is Norman (Lerman), who came into this war as a typist but is thrown into the maelstrom of fire and brimstone as he quickly learns that his conscience counts for nothing.

I generally love war films and I looked forward to Fury because I haven’t seen too many war films that focus on tanks, at least not off the top of my head. It doesn’t tread that much new ground (pun intended) as it has the usual commentary on the brutality and senselessness of war, and the characters are broad stereotypes. You have the gruff commander, the religious one, the asshole one, the more easygoing one, and the newbie. Yet the actors all do a good job and breathe some depth into their roles, especially LaBeouf. He’s had a lot of bad press for much of his career but he shines here and is almost unrecognisable from the man who portrayed Sam Witwicky in Transformers. Logan Lerman is great as well, going from wet behind the ears new recruit to battle-hardened warrior. Pitt holds the group together, although at the beginning he seems a little too gruff and is very similar to his character in Inglorious Bastards, but as they film progesses we see a different side come out.

While the film does focus on this band of brothers type, there’s not much revealed about the history of the characters or their personalities outside of the broadest characteristics so it’s a real testament to the actors that the audience gets attached to them to the extent that they do.

The other star is, of course, the tank. We became more intimate with this vehicle than we do with the characters in some respects. To them it’s their home, and is as important to them as the Enterprise is to Captain Kirk. The action is brutal and visceral, and the blood and murder happens in front of our eyes. The shells whistle past and explore thunderesouly, and caused me to jump more than a few times. At points I was so immersed in the film that I felt like I was on the battlefield with them.

There are a number of missions that culminate in a heroic stand where the odds are greatly against them. I love these types of scenarios, and drama is high as darkness falls and Germans advance in a cloak of smoke, given an orange hue due to the burning fire around. It’s haunting, and poignant. But the film is not entirely action. There is a break where we get a nice piano interlude and a reminder that humanity still exists amidst the devastation…until the full force of the war comes back.

Fury’s depiction of tank warfare is refreshing and offers a new angle on war combat. While it doesn’t offer much new in the way of the characters, the actors do a phenomenal job at presenting a set of soldiers that feel like brothers. It’s raw, visceral, and I loved it. I definitely recommend it.