Dunkirk is a unique, thrilling war film directed by Christopher Nolan about the evacuation of the allied soldiers from Belgium, French and mostly British soldiers from the beach of Dunkirk, France, during the WWII.

Nolan intercuts 3 distinct tales (on the land, sea and air) throughout the film in a nonlinear approach: a survival story of 3 soldiers on the beach, the journey and rescue of soldiers by a civilian British man (Mark Rylance) and his son and the spitfire warfare with Tom Hardy, of course!

Since these stories have a slightly different timeline and move at a different pacing in the film, the structure might feel a bit like a puzzle, since it cuts back and forward in time and place but everything eventually pieces itself together and it worked overall. It's certainly an unconventional structure for a war film and it stands out. Although I must say there were some strange cuts here and there, some scenes felt a bit too short and I felt there was something more there. Wasn't a big deal but it's worth mentioning.

So, seeing this in IMAX was a freaking blast. It was so so intense, I was literally shaking in my seat at some points. This was due to great sound design, which made possibly the most heart pounding explosions and gunfire I've experienced, one of the best, most chilling and intense scores by Hans Zimmer (and no, not much ticking clock, I was fooled!). It has the best cinematography I've seen in a Nolan movie and the second best work by Hoytema, the cinematographer (with "Her" still being my favorite). It feels epic while also being very intimate and up close with its characters, it's a very immersive film.

Kind of a first for Nolan, there is not much dialogue at all. I believe this is the biggest difference from his other movies. This time he relies more on visual storytelling and some developments just speak for themselves and let the audience catch up purely by watching. The main performances by the actors (especially the British soldiers played by Fionn Whitehead and Harry Styles), even though none of them are really Oscar worthy, manage to convey a lot of emotions without much dialogue. I felt isolation, fear, danger in the tensest situations just by their expressions and eyes.

The drowning/underwater scenes are particularly well acted and feel pretty claustrophobic.

The PG-13 rating was a valid concern but it didn't affect my viewing at all. There was a single scene right at the beginning with gunfire hits but no blood but the rest of the movie has more explosions than gunfire, and also quite a bit drowning. There are a lot of dead bodies too. So the R rating wouldn't do much other than having some more gore in a couple scenes. Like I said, it was still an incredibly intense and chilling film all the way through

The spitfire warfare felt so realistic, mostly because they used actual planes in the shooting. Nolan uses again a technique he used on Interstellar by putting the camera on the side of the plane.

In fact, this movie uses a LOT of practical effects. I'm sure there was a lot of cgi too but I definitely took notice of the real planes and boats. So really, none of it looked fake ever, that also helped the immersion.

This film is more of an "experience" and not much of a plot-heavy, dramatized film that I usually expect from Nolan. The point is to immerse the viewer with what the people at the time have seen and most importantly, experienced; while keeping tension and suspense throughout. So instead of spending too much time on backstory and character development, like a traditional war film, Dunkirk put me right into the field of battle, in these characters shoes, and successfully made me care about all of the characters simply by their actions, and by the virtue of what they're trying to achieve in such a context. It can even be compared with movies from a completely different genre, like Gravity and United 93, when it comes to characterization and such. Those movies are experiences, pretty tense experiences if you ask me, and neither has a big plot or much character development, you're right in the moment of conflict with the characters and a lot of it relies on tension and suspense too.

Dunkirk is my 4th favorite film from Christopher Nolan (behind Inception, The Prestige and Memento), I give it a strong 4.5/5 and look forward to what Nolan will explore next. And so far it's my favorite film this year.