Am I the only one who thinks 1917 is bad?

SPOILERS AHEAD

Don't get me wrong, the craft and skills involved in making this are exceptional.

I think it's beautifully shot, but that's also one if it's problems. I'll come to that in a bit.

Maybe I was expecting something of this film that I shouldn't have but due to it's heavy praise I thought maybe this is something that's above mainstream appeal. I was wrong. There's no appeal for me. While watching it I felt kind of indifferent to all characters.

I'll start with the writing. I think it's not very well written. 1917 is not a war movie for me, nor an Anti-war movie. It's an Action thriller that's set in WW1. And for that fact alone I think it's a very problematic film, because besides the fight against time, does it tell me anything? I couldn't find any message there. Does it tell me that war is hell? Not really, we don't even have time to think about that. Does it tell me that fighting this dirty war will leave you scarred for the rest of your life? Also not really. Every word in the screenplay is written for dramatic effect, every twist in the movie feels written and not organic for me.

Instead of trying to incorporate humanity into the film, Mendes made every german soldier a fundamentally bad (and stupid) guy.Two guys save your life by dragging you out of a burning plane? you better stab one of them.One guy gives you the choice between being killed or just staying quiet, while your superiour is outside puking and not being able to help you even if you did call him since he can't even stand straight? You better call him. I am wondering what would have happened if the two soldiers dragged the pilot out, he didn't stab one of them and now they're wondering what to do with him since they have to continue advancing to their destination. I guess it wouldn't be as dramatic. And also the other one would still be alive then.

I'm wondering what would have happened if the young german soldier did in fact keep his mouth shut? Would he trust him to keep his mouth shut or would he have to make sure that he stays quiet? Well maybe that yould make him the bay guy and we can't have that. Would that be as dramatic? No, it would make us think about it more and I guess that's not what the filmmakers wanted.

Also the constant music is silencing our thoughts. While watching the movie I always felt the construction of the plot, almost nothing felt organic (or on other words, believable) to me.

One continuous shot can be something very appealing and intriguing, if it's fitting and executed right. I loved it in Birdman. Here, there's this problem that will always be one with one-shots, that covering the distance from point A to point B is unrealistically short, if you have great distances to cover. While watching 1917 I always had the feeling that those distances are way too short. But we have to advance to the next plot point, so we can't spend too much time with walking somewhere.

Mendes didn't seem to place a lot of value on realism. The quantity of explosions right near our protagonists would have placed dozens, hundreds of shrapnells in their bodies, but miraculously not a single one found its way into them. Also both of them would have been deaf after that explosion right near them in the tunnel. People were sent flying through the air by the explosions of artillery fire, which is not at all realistic. The exploding shells would have torn them to pieces. That's also one of the reasons why 1917 is an action movie for me.

Roger Deakin's work is stunning and beautiful as always, but here I had the feeling it was kind of misplaced. It elimiated a lot of the somberness a film about WWI should convey (at least in my opinon) I think the visuals are too beautiful for a movie set in war. Vittorio Storaros Camera in Apocalypse Now was also stunning and beautiful, but in a way that fit the story way better than in this case.

I guess I just expected a different movie and that expectation was fueled by all those glorifying reviews and then I was disappointed.I guess if I wanted to see a film about the horrors of war, I should stick to Paths of Glory or Come and See.I guess this film just isn't for me. But I am curious for your thoughts.