Movie Review: ALLIED
Allied
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Grade 3 out of 5
Cast:
Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard
“Allied” is the return to the old school, slow paced suspense thrillers of the past. The ones that Hitchcock used to excel at. Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard star as a Canadian and French spy respectively, during World War 2. They are assigned to team up and go undercover as husband and wife to pull off an intricate Nazi assassination. After spending some time together, the sparks between them start to spill over into their personal life.
After setting up a home as husband and wife, Pitt is told by his superiors that the woman he married, may in fact be a German spy. Now he must decide to listen to the chain of command or listen to his heart.
I will say the performances in this film are outstanding. It’s easy to see how anyone could fall for Cotillard, she’s that perfect blend of smart, sexy, and deadly. Pitt also gets to channel some raw emotions as he’s confronted with this somewhat unique situation. The story is where the movie falters somewhat for me. The beginning of the movie is paced just a tad too slow, but once the suspense starts to ratchet up, it really becomes an edge of your seat experience. I was almost gnawing on the chair in front of me, it was getting so tense! The payoff and the story beats are fine, but I was just expecting something a little more clever or original, especially considering the star power and pedigree. This is a entertaining, lazy day type of film, but there’s barely anything outside of the performances and an incredibly suspenseful third act that is really outstanding. Again, it’s a good throwback flick, but missing some of that storytelling magic.
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Grade 3 out of 5
Cast:
Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard
“Allied” is the return to the old school, slow paced suspense thrillers of the past. The ones that Hitchcock used to excel at. Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard star as a Canadian and French spy respectively, during World War 2. They are assigned to team up and go undercover as husband and wife to pull off an intricate Nazi assassination. After spending some time together, the sparks between them start to spill over into their personal life.
After setting up a home as husband and wife, Pitt is told by his superiors that the woman he married, may in fact be a German spy. Now he must decide to listen to the chain of command or listen to his heart.
I will say the performances in this film are outstanding. It’s easy to see how anyone could fall for Cotillard, she’s that perfect blend of smart, sexy, and deadly. Pitt also gets to channel some raw emotions as he’s confronted with this somewhat unique situation. The story is where the movie falters somewhat for me. The beginning of the movie is paced just a tad too slow, but once the suspense starts to ratchet up, it really becomes an edge of your seat experience. I was almost gnawing on the chair in front of me, it was getting so tense! The payoff and the story beats are fine, but I was just expecting something a little more clever or original, especially considering the star power and pedigree. This is a entertaining, lazy day type of film, but there’s barely anything outside of the performances and an incredibly suspenseful third act that is really outstanding. Again, it’s a good throwback flick, but missing some of that storytelling magic.
-“Marquee Mark” Markellus.
