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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘Dunkirk’ may be Nolan’s best film yet

Dan Webster

Amid all the superhero films, which — after all — are a summer movie staple, one stands out: Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk."

For those who don't know World War II history, the German advance through Europe in late 1939 and early 1940 had pretty much decimated Allied forces. In May of 1940, German forces had cut off the British Expeditionary Force, stranding hundreds of thousands of British troops.

As the German dithered — historians still debate why — some 800 private boats crossed the English Channel and brought an estimated 338,000 troops home. It, along with the subsequent Battle of Britain, constituted the only real positive Allied storylines during that first year of the war.

Nolan, who has made his name making such action-printed films as "Inception," "Interstellar" and the "Dark Knight" trilogy, is finally applying his talents to an actual fact-based drama. And the critics are overwhelmingly in favor.

Stephen Whitty, New York Daily News: "Let other directors play with toy soldiers and computer effects. This is big-time, old-school filmmaking. Dunkirk isn't overdone. It's simply done epically."

Lindsay Bahr, Associated Press: "Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk is a stone cold masterpiece. It's a stunningly immersive survival film told in 106 thrillingly realized minutes."

Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice: "The nerve-racking war thriller Dunkirk is the movie Christopher Nolan's entire career has been building up to, in ways that even he may not have realized."

"Dunkirk" opens Friday.