Dunkirk

94% on Metacritic.  93% on Rotten Tomatoes.  I snuck away from work early today (not as bad as it sounds because I was in the office at 7am) to finally watch the universally acclaimed Dunkirk.  My rating (subject to change, as I'm still digesting what I watched): 7/10.  A good film - yes.  A great film - I'm not so sure.  I think it will win some Oscars, because technically it was superb - the cinematography, special effects and especially the sound design were all amazing.  Some of the best dog fights I've ever seen filmed - I could feel myself leaning my head to match the lean of the camera.  Definitely worth watching on a big IMAX screen - it looks amazing.  But my problem was with the characters and the storyline.  It was basically a very simple and linear series of set pieces - very intense, but lacking in nuance and depth.  And I think the idea of mixing up the timelines was probably a late one made in editing and I'm not sure if it was necessary.  The characters were, intentionally, nameless and somewhat undeveloped - I wonder whether the film would have worked better if it had better characterized protagonists.  But these are minor gripes - I will definitely watch it again, all of Christopher Nolan's films are better watched more than once (though perhaps they are not as clever as he thinks they are) and I may grow to like it more.  But is it one of the great war films?  I need convincing.