Puzzlingly Bad
*minor spoilers - but nothing the coming attractions haven't already shown us
The movie had nearly everything a movie needs: a great cast, great locations, the great setting of WWII Europe, important and understandable goals, fantastically beautiful works of art, likable good guys and nasty bad guys, AND to top it all off, "based on" real events. But with all this going for it, the movie came off as lackluster and flat.
How could a movie, with all these strengths, fail completely to engage the audience (me, at least)? HOW? There was little tension, no suspense, no feeling of victory when the good guys succeeded, nothing to cheer about, nothing to worry about. The script was ho-hum, and a little too droll.
Don't get me wrong - this is not a terrible movie at all - it's just that it had everything it could possibly need to be a fine one, but just squandered its wealth with a poor script, bad timing, and humdrum direction.
If it were a James Bond movie or a Spiderman flick, where some tongue-in-cheek wisecracks are not only expected but obligatory, that would be different. But here, the attempts at humor were poorly timed and fell flat. A real man standing on an unexploded mine does not quip - only happens in a movie (and not a serious one, at that). If the movie's subject matter were lighthearted, if we were not supposed to care about the characters or the outcome of their mission, then by all means crack some jokes - just make them funny. But if you first encumber me with the weight of a vitally important quest, if you first preach to me that humanity would be lost should this quest be unsuccessful, then please don't joke and jive about it. A comic moment or two would be fine - if it relieved tension and moved the plot along. But there was no tension, and the plot simply stood still. Don't joke about it - instead, build some drama, and make me give a hoot about the outcome. Nazis are bad and art is good - most of us will agree to that - but it's lazy and unimaginative for a filmmaker to rely on these built-in values. You, as a filmmaker, need to introduce some drama, and make me feel something about the specific situations if you want me to care about your characters and get me involved in the outcome of their mission.