Tom Hanks expertly captains this fast-paced war tale that provides the eye candy and excitement with its non-stop action, but little else to please the audience. Check out our Greyhound review.
The film follows an international convoy of Allied ships that is led by the Greyhound, captained by Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks), as they make the trek across the North Atlantic and encounter packs of Nazi U-boats.
What Greyhound has going for it is a flawless performance by Hanks, one of the best actors of my lifetime, as well as the exploration of an area of warfare that we haven’t really seen in the war films delivered over recent years.
The cinematography is beautiful and the action sequences are stellar; you feel the intensity of the altercations between the ships and submarines from start to finish.
Where it falters, however, is in the lack of any character development beyond a minimal set-up of Hanks’ character’s love interest at the very beginning.
The dialogue is dominated by coordinates and naval speak, often hard to follow and muffled by the stellar sound effects. The result is a failure to emotionally connect to any one character in particular, though you will find yourself rooting for the entire crew to make it through.
This is a jam-packed 90 minute film that succeeds in delivering a simplistic World War II story that, due to the noted deficiencies, isn’t so much a dynamic watch as it is an explosion-filled cat-and-mouse game that is certainly satisfying to the senses, but devoid of those qualities that makes a film great.
Whereas 1917 combined visuals, storytelling, emotion, and intrigue in a robust film, Greyhound is one-track. It’s still a solid film, but what you see in the trailers is what you get for the duration of the film.
Greyhound Review by Joe Peltzer from Guy at the Movies
Our Rating
Summary
Greyhound delivers a crash course in naval terminology with wildly entertaining battles on the high seas and little else in a film devoid of character development and flushed with non-stop action.
