Director: Sean Ellis
Writer: Sean Ellis, Anthony Frewin (Screenplay)
Starring: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Toby Jones, Anna Geislerova, Sara Arnsteinova, Hana Frejkova, Sean Mahon
Plot: Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution and the Reich’s third in command after Hitler and Himmler.
Tagline – The Only Thing More Terrifying Than the Leader of the SS Was the Operation to Take Him Out
Runtime: 2 Hours
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Interesting History Lesson
Story: Anthropoid starts as two soldiers Jan Kubis (Dornan) and Josef Gabcik (Murphy) return to Czechoslovakia on the brink of World War II, to complete a mission known as Anthropoid, which will see them plan the assassination of SS General Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich is one of the three main men behind the Final Solution, which was used to form the Nazi movement through Czechoslovakia, he is hated in the country.
With the location of Heydrich known, the men must work on a plan, which will see them place themselves in a situation which could change history as they know it.
Thoughts on Anthropoid
Characters – Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcik are both soldiers on a secret mission, they must sneak into the country to assassinate Heydrich third in line to the Nazi party. They must work around the town never looking out of place being strangers there, to prepare for a moment that could change history. They do try to blend into the background, not drawing attention to themselves to get their mission done. We do meet couple more characters including Uncle Hajsky who gives them shelter as they work on their mission. We do also meet love interests which will see the men put the mission in danger.
Performances – Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy take the leading roles, they both do a solid job as you can see them working well together on the mission, they can both hit higher levels though, which is a disappointment. Nobody makes the impact they could do through this film, with the subject being look at.
Story – The story follows a secret mission of two soldiers who plan to assassinate one of the high ranking members of the Nazi party, we see how they plan comes together and just how much the people involved are willing to risk to end the executions of the innocent in their country. This is an interesting story, one that would be considered important because it is an important part of the pre-world war II events. It does show how the people were already starting to become scared of what might happen to them, what they would be willing to risk stopping it and just how much sacrifice was put into the events.
Biopic/War – The biopic side of this film comes from seeing the risk the people involved took to try and stop one of the highest ranking men in the Nazi party, this also uses the war elements to show us just how people were being treated through World War II.
Settings – The film keeps most of the action in Prague, where the events of the assassination attempt took place, the age for the scenery looks the most accurate for the time the film is set.
Scene of the Movie – Church defence.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It never feels as intense as it could or should be.
Final Thoughts – This is an interesting history lesson, it shows the events of an attempted assassination of one of the Nazi’s most villainous men.
Overall: Interesting, but not intense enough.
Rating
