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The Preview Reel: Will Dunkirk Win the Week?

Scott Davis
The Preview Reel

Welcome to this week’s “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide release movies. With Baby Driver opening three weeks ago, followed by Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes just last week, and Dunkirk this week, we are unquestionably in the best stretch of this summer’s wide releases. Enjoy it, because August looks bleak. This is also a rare week where we don’t have a sequel or reboot opening as we have three intriguing “new” releases: Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic Dunkirk, Luc Besson’s space adventure Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and the R-rated comedy Girls Trip. There’s seemingly something for everybody this week.

 

Dunkirk

What we are excited about: Christopher Nolan is one of the most celebrated directors of the 21st century. With films like Memento, Inception, The Prestige, and of course the Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan has crafted an incredibly impressive list of films that can not only be considered crowd pleasers, but critical favorites as well. He’s the rare blockbuster director that is also able to bring art to his mega-budgeted projects, and Dunkirk looks like no exception to this. The trailers have crafted intense scenes with an emphasis on magnificent shots and practical effects. The ticking of a clock and Hans Zimmer’s score make us think we are in for a treat with this one.

What we are worried about: This might be a weird thing to be worried about, but the film’s running time is only 107 minutes. That is considerably shorter than Nolan’s most recent work (most of his films push almost three hours) and is much shorter than other war epics like Saving Private Ryan (1998). Will this film have enough time to flesh everything out? Will there be enough intense set pieces to warrant the price of admission? We’ll have to see. One thing that the internet is worried about, that we don’t think will be a problem, is the PG-13 rating. Many believe that you can’t capture the brutality of war with this type of rating, but we think the contrary. Blood or language doesn’t make scenes tense, how the film is crafted and the peril of the situations will be plenty enough we think.

The Buzz: The buzz for this movie is through the roof – at least online. Reviews started coming out on Monday and it is by far the best reviewed movie of the year. The film currently sits at 96% on RottenTomatoes and an even more impressive 96 on MetaCritic. Many are praising this as not only the best film of the year, but Nolan’s best film yet. That is certainly high praise, which has the internet buzzing. We’ll have to wait to see if the public turns out for a World War II movie in the middle of the summer. It is an odd release date, but the film should open to around $45 million and showcase strong legs for the rest of the summer.

Final Thoughts: This is this writer’s most anticipated movie of the summer, possibly the year (though Star Wars: The Last Jedi probably has that title) and there is no way we are missing it.

 

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

What we are excited about: Although not entirely a unique concept (it is based on a well-liked French comic book series), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets does feel incredibly unique. The worlds are bright, there are new alien designs, Rihanna is acting, and it all feels very exciting. Throw in the director of such films as Lucy (2014) and The Fifth Element (1997) and we know we are in for at least some sort of crazy ride.

What we are worried about: While the film looks visually pleasing, we are worried about the lack of plot in the trailers. The marketing seems to be banking on audiences wanting to take in another space adventure, but with a new Star Wars coming out every year and Guardians of the Galaxy bringing comedy to space adventures all over the galaxy, is there anything that this movie brings to the table? We’re not sure. Even the actors, Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevinge, are sort of bland, not meaning they are bad, but they’re ones that you can’t necessarily bank a $180 million blockbuster on.

The Buzz: The reviews for this film have been mixed to positive as it sits at 72% on RottenTomatoes and 52 on MetaCritic. Reviews might turn a couple of people on to this movie, but still look for it to underperform with around $20 million.

Final Thoughts: There’s so many great choices for summer moviegoers that we think this will ultimately get lost in the shuffle.

 

Girls Trip

What we are excited about: We need a comedy. This year has been such a terrible one for comedies, whether it’s CHiPS, Fist Fight, Snatched, Rough Night, or most recently The House, R-rated comedies have completely missed this year. Maybe, this is the comedy we need. This looks like it could be this year’s Bad Moms (2016) as it features a strong female cast and a couple of solid laughs in the trailer. So far, it’s not hard to claim the title of the funniest movie of 2017. So far, Girls Trip might have the edge.

What we are worried about: Again, we’ve been burned by comedies this year. Besides CHiPS and Fist Fight, none of the trailers for comedies have been particularly bad. It wasn’t until we saw the finished product that we knew what duds they were. We know that comedies can be hard to market, so this concern could be for every comedy that comes out, but we hope we can laugh at Girls Trip.

The Buzz: The buzz for this movie has been picking up steam ever since screenings started over the last couple of weeks. The movie sits at 88% on RottenTomatoes and 76 on MetaCritic. This could play as the perfect counter-programming to the big budget action flicks out there right now and could prove to have strong legs like Bad Moms did last year. Look for an opening around $25 million.

Final Thoughts: This could make for a fun night out for those looking for something other than explosions and/or aliens.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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