Journey's End

Parental Rating: R

Contains: Language    Violence    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens March 30, 2018

Runs 107 minutes

It is 1918 and the fourth year of World War I. Currently, there is a stalemate in the War. The British have been rotating troops to the trenches on the front line in Aisne, France awaiting a German offensive that appears imminent. Captain Stanhope (Sam Claflin) and his troops are next in line to hit the trenches. Freshly out of training, Raleigh (Asa Butterfield) has asked to be assigned to Stanhope's unit - it appears they are old school friends. He is sent along with the rest to the front line. There, they wait to see what the Germans have in store. Unfortunately for this group, the Germans begin their "Spring Offensive" which results in the loss of over 700,000 soldiers from both sides. Eventually, the British retake the battlefield but not before this group of soldiers has reached the end of their journey.

I don't want to short change this film. It is a well done war movie with a superb cast including Paul Bettany, Tom Sturridge and Toby Jones along with Sam Claflin and Asa Butterfield. It is gritty and claustrophic just like I assume the real trenches were. There is fighting and death. But, there is also a lot of waiting around and the movie felt very slow to me. Sometimes I had a hard time differentiating between some of the characters because everyone was covered in so much grime. That did keep it realistic and authentic, though, I guess. Anyway, as I told the Husband, there were a few brief opening and closing statements about the time period and the result of the spring offensive. After reading those, I didn't really even need to see the movie in between. Oh well, it was good but it just wasn't for me. If you are a fan of war movies, then this may be a must for you so go see it.

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