'Allied' Movie Review

Hello, fellow moviegoers!
   Allied is directed by Robert Zemeckis, and it stars Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, and Jared Harris. During World War II, a British Intelligence Agent, Max Vatan, is informed that his wife could potentially be a German spy. Tensions build as he attempts to uncover the truth about his wife while trying to seem inconspicuous about it. 

   I’d like to start by saying that Robert Zemeckis is probably one of my favorite directors. Whether it be the Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump, or even his criminally underrated film The Walk, Zemeckis just knows how to make a great movie experience. Allied, however, isn’t going to be the next great film on his resume. Allied is not a bad film. It just fails to stand out as being very good. There aren’t really any bad things about this film, it just fails to make an impact, which I suppose is the overall most important thing a film needs to do.
   The trailers for this film did an absolutely amazing job at building suspense. The tension built in the trailers made the audience uncomfortable, and that was the thing that had me most excited about this film. I was looking forward to Zemeckis doing a sort of espionage-thriller. While I suppose this film fits into that category, the tension in this film never reaches the level it did in those trailers. So bravo to the marketing department for cutting together a really good trailer, but the film itself really didn’t follow through.
   Brad Pitt, I thought, did a decent enough job in the film, although in some scenes he did feel a little scripted. Which yes, I understand that every actor is on a script in every film, but you don’t want that to be evident to the audience. You want every line to feel natural; some lines Pitt delivers in this film don’t really hit the way they should’ve. Marion Cotillard, however, gave a fantastic performance. She really played with the idea of this “Is she? Isn’t she?” character. She seemed to master the art of the mysterious look in this film. There were several shots of her just looking at something, and you can’t tell what she’s thinking, but you could tell it was something important. Your imagination runs wild trying to decipher what she is thinking. You were able to pick up on all of that due to Cotillard’s performance. She is definitely one of the best actresses working right now, and that’s no exaggeration.
    One thing that was kind of distracting in this film was the poor green screen in some of the shots. There are moments, particularly early on in the film, where it is painfully obvious that these actors are on a set. If you look at the backgrounds, you can almost tell exactly where the set ends and the green screen begins, which is a really bad thing in today’s age of visual effects.
   Overall, Allied was a pretty okay movie. It didn’t really stand out as having great characters, it failed to build significant amounts of tension, the visual effects were noticeable, and the film just fails to stand out. The only thing saving this film from the despairing pit of mediocrity is Marion Cotillard’s performance. Allied isn’t a bad film, but it is a pretty forgettable one.
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6/10

   So what did you think of Allied? What’s your favorite Robert Zemeckis film? Let me know by commenting on this post! Also, if you enjoyed this review, share it on Facebook and Twitter! It really helps! Don’t forget, I post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so check back then for more movie reviews and miscellaneous movie thoughts!
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