The Monuments Men (2014)

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  TheMovieDiorama

  5 / 10

  The Monuments Men should've been interesting...it wasn't. Films set in World War Two are incredibly popular and the genre has become saturated. There is no room for mediocrity anymore. In comes George Clooney and his famous Hollywood friends to add to the exclusive list of excellent war movies...Ha! Based on the true story of a group of historians going into Europe to recover artistic masterpieces that the Nazi's stole. The film does not do those historians justice, at all. Quite simply this was a mess, narratively speaking. I was hopeful at the start as Clooney and Damon hire the assistance of other historians. Then the movie kicks into second gear and the group are disbanded to various cities across Europe. The narrative consistently shifts between five (...yes five!) different parties of the same unit. This constant switching was ridiculously jarring and I couldn't maintain focus on what the heck was going on. It wasn't a cohesive narrative, it was like watching five separate stories in one film. Not to mention that nothing here was engaging or compelling. Character development was minimal, editing was rushed...this could've, and should've, been executed better. Even the acting felt bland, hardly any acting at all! Only Blanchett and Dujardin felt immersed in the story. Everyone else was just themselves but in costume. Clooney clearly focussed on his directorial efforts and it showed. I honestly think his directing style is great. It's clean, sharp and he isn't afraid to let the actors do their job. I appreciate the light hearted atmosphere, rare these days in a war film but it felt like Dad's Army instead of Saving Private Ryan. There were glimpses of humour, particularly with the land mine scene where our characters actually interacted. But ultimately it was too little too late to save this. Mediocre at best.

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