If you know me, you know I enjoy war films. Specifically, war films surrounding World War II. This is how I stumbled upon 2016’s Anthropoid. Seeing as how Cillian Murphy starred in it, I needed not to know any more. Unfortunately, Murphy was really the only good thing about this boring and badly acted (not on Murphy’s part) film.
Anthropoid takes place in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Operation Anthropoid was a real-life operation to kill SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich was known as the “Butcher of Prague” for the horrible crimes and genocide he was responsible for during his time as a Nazi. These are things about history I did not know about. So, I did enjoy learning pieces of World War II that I hadn’t previously been knowledgable about.
The Biggest Problem With This Film
Murphy plays Slovak soldier Jozef Gabčík, while Jamie Dornan plays Czech soldier Jan Kubiš. While I don’t believe any person should be defined by only one role of theirs, I don’t think Dornan fits anywhere other than Fifty Shades of Grey. And honestly, that could be thrown away. Dornan was the most distracting aspect of this entire film. Brooding in scenes not meant for it, Dornan seemingly only possesses one face of emotion to display. We have the immensely talented Murphy acting circles around Dornan, yet because Dornan is perceived as the “pretty boy”, he’s given a considerable and undeserving large amount of screen time.
A War Film That Didn’t Hit The Mark
Anthropoid had the potential to be a war movie about patriots making a stand against the Nazi party. It could have taught people about an event I’m sure some are not aware of. Instead, it missed many marks and was put together awkwardly. They even tried to throw in some romance there, which I was not interested in those scenes. Murphy was the best part of this film and his performance should definitely be noted. This and the final battle scene, as well as the decisions the soldiers must make when backed into a corner. It was only Murphy’s final scene that really hit the mark the way it should. Oh, and I did enjoy Harry Lloyd’s role in this film – they could have switched his parts out with Dornan’s and I would have been fine with it.
Rating: 2.5/5
Just like Child 44, everyone’s accent was incredibly unnatural and I wish that perhaps they could have found actual Slavic actors to portray these characters. Perhaps I’m being too harsh. Anthropoid is on Hulu and I would be interested in knowing what you think about this war film!
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A girl with too many fandoms to count.
