Review: Blitz
A Boy's Journey. A Mother's Love. Miles Of Burning City Between Them.
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Blitz. Keep in mind this is but one of the many movies I watch every year, and that whatever initial grade I come up for this film could change for better or worse with time. To better keep up to date with both my thoughts on other movies and if my feelings on this film changed, follow me on Letterboxd.
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THE PLOT
Via Letterboxd: In World War II London, nine-year-old George is evacuated to the countryside by his mother, Rita, to escape the bombings. Defiant and determined to return to his family, George embarks on an epic, perilous journey back home as Rita searches for him.
QUICK REVIEW
Steve McQueen has established himself as one of the most respected directors in the industry today. His 2013 film 12 Years a Slave won Best Picture, and stands as one of my favorite films of the 2010s. His 2020 anthology Small Axe was, in my opinion, the directing achievement of that year.
For years, I eagerly anticipated his upcoming project on the London Blitz. Steve McQueen directing a World War II film? It sounded like an epic in the making. Even reports of studios passing on the film when it was screened for sale last year, or festivals hesitating to feature it, didn't dampen my excitement.
Now, however, I've seen the film, simply titled Blitz, and I have to report that the final product was, at best, just okay. And "okay" is not what you'd expect from a Steve McQueen project.
If I can be frank, the movie felt like a big-budget, straight-to-Netflix release. That might be fine for some quick, “fast food” at-home cinema, but it’s not what I’d expect from the one and only Steve McQueen. The cinematography is, in my opinion, the weakest I’ve seen in any of his films, the visual effects feel clunky, and the pacing veers from rushed to a bit of a slog, at times. By the final twenty or so minutes of this two-hour film, I already felt it could have ended ten minutes earlier even while feeling like more depth could’ve been used.
Now, underwhelming technical aspects could be forgiven if the screenplay and character development delivered. The premise, a boy losing his way and trying to reunite with his mother during the London Blitz, is intriguing. And the characters show enough life that I was curious to see their journeys through to the end. However, the overall execution felt disappointingly generic and formulaic. Rather than an epic, Blitz comes across as a paint-by-the-numbers children’s tale. While the characters have some personality, they also feel like they could have been fleshed out further. Plus, there’s one subplot featuring a group of straight up villains that feel almost comically out of place, as if from a different movie entirely. And that’s before accounting for what I found to be very stereotypical dialogue from a British perspective.
Watching Blitz, I can’t say I was bored (most of the time), and I never fully tuned out. There are some engaging story moments in our protagonists’ journey. Yet, overall, I felt like I was getting a cheaper brand of wine rather than the top-shelf experience I’d expect from McQueen. I came in expecting the next Dunkirk, and left with the feeling of having seen an entertaining enough children’s movie - but one you might watch on a streaming service and forget it’s details of a year later.
I didn’t dislike Blitz. In fact, out of nearly 200 films I’ve seen from this year so far, I’d rank it just within my top 50 at the moment. But that’s more a testament to how underwhelming the year has been for film than praise. It’s an okay, mildly interesting story from McQueen but, honestly, probably his weakest film. The acting is strong, but it’s let down by an underwhelming script. I’d give Blitz a straight up B; not a B- or B+, just a B.
INITIAL GRADING
