It feels like it’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Sam Mendes. Giving us Skyfall in 2012 and Spectre in 2015, he’s been Bond–I mean bound to franchise filmmaking for a great many years. Now taking a shot at the war film again (after 2005’s Jarhead) we have 1917, a grand WWI epic.
With the war raging, British soldiers Schofield and Blake (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman, respectively) are set on a mission across enemy lines to deliver a message to halt an offensive. Failure to deliver the message means the lives of thousands of soldiers. Best get to it then!
With a cast featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, and Richard Madden, the British ranks will certainly house their fair share of familiar faces. And with legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins shooting the film, those faces will look as good as ever.
It certainly looks to be taking some hints from the 2017 marketing for World War II drama Dunkirk, so hopefully Mendes’ film can match that Chistopher Nolan’s terrific film. We shall see when 1917 releases on a limited schedule Christmas Day 2019, with a wider release on January 10, 2020.
