Unbroken
Oscar winner Angelina Jolie directs and produces Unbroken, a drama about Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survive in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII—only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
This movie starts out great with a wonderful story and sense of place, but unfortunately fizzles in the long run as it simply is too long and arduous. In fact, the whole second half of the movie is nothing but pain and suffering followed by even more pain and suffering. Not much depth to the storyline and plot except for the torture that Louie endures. On a technical note, is it just me or are the punches and action sequences “fake” looking? At times, I felt like I was watching an old Bruce Lee movie! Totally unacceptable in this day and age for a big budget movie in my opinion.
This epic could have been so much more if the characters were fully developed and we were able to get a glimpse into what and why they were thinking. The most touching part of the movie is the end when we see the “real life” Louie running with the Olympic torch and realizing his dream…even though it’s not exactly how he wanted it.
A big disappointment for me. 5 out of 10 stars.
