Sam Mendes' second attempt at a war film shows us that there is still innovation to be had in this genre. The amount of planning and thought that went into this film is absolutely astounding. The long shot sequences without an (obvious) cut as great and the performances are fantastic by all involved.

It is a very solid film with realistic writing, exciting and realistic events, and a pressing issue that we are constantly reminded of.

My main issue with the film stems from the lack of characterization. There seem to be a lot of throwaway lines concerning the relationship between the main characters that I really wish we had seen more of. I realize that this film depicts these soldiers as just "one of many", but the mere fact that there are SO MANY of these intimate moments between the main characters makes the film seem flip-floppy on this decision.

Besides this, it is wonderfully solid on all fronts, although the ending didn't really wow me the same way the rest of the movie did. All in all, a very solid film that did a lot right, but was a little emotionally muted for my taste.