"Anthropoid", about the operation to kill Nazi general Reinhard Heydrich, does exactly what you'd expect for a film of this nature, but I did appreciate some of its unique flourishes. For starters, the performances are great here. Cillian Murphy is great as always but the real standout for me was Jamie Dornan. Consider this the first time I was actually impressed by a piece of acting from his so well done on that front.
The 16mm filmmaking is also extremely well implemented. There is a lot of use of handheld, but for me personally, it actually added to the tension of a scene rather than becoming a distraction. There are some flaws with the story in that the some characters get sidelined to focus on the operation, especially characters like Toby Jones who were there more to add to the authenticity and feel to the piece rather than feeling like a fleshed out human being. This character writing is especially apparent with the female romantic interests who do nothing but service the plot to the two male protagonists and add some love to the story. You could argue they chose to do this for historical accuracy, but I've seen plenty of period period pieces manage to write great supporting characters that enhance the whole picture.
So from a script perspective, this needed some major touch ups. However, the action is violent and intense when it hits, so if you like getting that out of your war films, this is a must watch. Also from what I've read, the historical accuracy is fairly spot on especially when the operation to take down Heydrich occurs.
The 16mm filmmaking is also extremely well implemented. There is a lot of use of handheld, but for me personally, it actually added to the tension of a scene rather than becoming a distraction. There are some flaws with the story in that the some characters get sidelined to focus on the operation, especially characters like Toby Jones who were there more to add to the authenticity and feel to the piece rather than feeling like a fleshed out human being. This character writing is especially apparent with the female romantic interests who do nothing but service the plot to the two male protagonists and add some love to the story. You could argue they chose to do this for historical accuracy, but I've seen plenty of period period pieces manage to write great supporting characters that enhance the whole picture.
So from a script perspective, this needed some major touch ups. However, the action is violent and intense when it hits, so if you like getting that out of your war films, this is a must watch. Also from what I've read, the historical accuracy is fairly spot on especially when the operation to take down Heydrich occurs.