By: Ali Habous
I couldn’t help wondering while watching Anthropoid how the producers and filmmakers managed to land this one in the theaters at this point in time. In a season full of big budget action movies and romantic comedies filling up the theaters everywhere, here we have a movie based on the true story of two Czechoslovakian exiled soldiers during the second world war (Jan Kubis played by Jamie Dornan and Josef Gabcik played by a very capable Cillian Murphy).
Both are sent back to Prague to join what is left of the local resistance in order to assassinate the third person in the Nazi Germany hierarchy, Reinhard Heydrich. Even though the movie is far from perfect, at least we have some filmmakers, especially director Sean Ellis, who are willing to take some risks and deliver a fact-based film about unknown heroes during a very critical time in history. We all know this one is not going to make money at the box office due to the lack of interest of the general audience and the disappointing focus on special effects-laden movies especially in the summer season, but let’s hope enough people see this movie.
Anthropoid takes it time to establish strong character development especially in the first hour where we get to meet the resistance and the main two characters trying to remain under the radar and at the same time plan the risky assassination. By the film’s midpoint, you will feel for those guys and root for their cause and safety. The film feels genuine due to filming on location in Prague and it manages to hold the audience’s interest throughout with some moments of drama and edge of your seat tension especially during the assassination attempt and the aftermath battle.
Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) gets a good chance here to show some acting skills and he is certainly aided by his good European looks but this movie belongs to Cillian Murphy. The British actor (The Dark Knight Trilogy and 28 Days Later) is head and shoulders above everyone else in the film due to his wide range of abilities to deliver all the emotions surrounding the event whether it is anger, frustration, sadness, or confidence.
Even though the screenplay feels grounded and real, it is very predictable and too straightforward. It is not very difficult to guess what many of the characters will say next throughout the film. The romantic subplots are needed in such movies to lower the testosterone levels but here they feel forced and not mature, we don’t get the conviction needed to understand why those characters fell in love. The production values are decent but unfortunately, the film feels like a TV film which will hurt its chances at the box office.
All in all, Anthropoid is a respectable world war thriller with a good cast, strong character development, and some decent action scenes. The film does fall short in certain areas, but this does not undermine what the filmmakers are trying to achieve and deliver in a summer season full of blockbusters.
Rating: 7/10
Great review!