Spy Flick Looks Flat
‘ALLIED’ TRAILER REVIEW BY METRO CREW
Max (Brad Pitt), an intelligence officer, teams up with French Resistance fighter Marianne (Marion Cotillard) for a deadly mission to assassinate a high-ranking Nazi. The two fall in love and all seems to be going well, until Max learns that Marianne might be a Nazi spy — and he is tasked with finding the truth and taking her down. While we think that this maybe could have been a good movie, we’re too distracted by the unrealistic premise — not to mention those recent, scathing Pitt allegations. Allied opened in wide release Nov. 23.
NICOLE: This trailer was reminiscent of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, just set during WWII. I’m sure that’s not what they were going for, as it does seem a little more intense than the 2005 Jolie/Pitt movie and I don’t think there will be bits of comical breaks. Also, I will just say that I am sad Pitt and Jolie split up. I don’t know all the details and facts, but them not being together makes me sad.
JAIMIE: Under better circumstances, I might be stoked about this film. Marion Cotillard is in it being gorgeous and sneaky. Brad Pitt is being … Brad Pitt. There’s lots of intrigue and war and really pretty costumes that look good on Marion Cotillard. And then Brad Pitt had to go and get himself investigated by the FBI because of child abuse allegations, and rumors began to spread about him having an affair with Marion Cotillard during filming — even though she is married to Guillaume Canet and they are PERFECT together.
PAIGE: I wonder if Marion Cotillard ever gets tired of being the untrustworthy femme fatale. Or if Brad Pitt is tired of being in World War II movies yet.
CHRISTINA: Even if this film wasn’t tainted by the Pitt allegations, I don’t think I would be very interested in it. There are about a million war period flicks, and while this one has the insertion of a possibly traitorous wife, it just doesn’t seem like enough to really differentiate it. Also, a lot of things seem really overdone and did not look realistic at all — the sandstorm love scene, the being in labor while there are explosions going off.
JAIMIE: I really think it’s everything else that is going on outside of the movie that makes the movie look dumb. Like, how are we supposed to take any of it seriously? While I would like to watch this movie — a moviea that really could have been a better Mr. & Mrs. Smith — I can’t. I can’t even watch the trailer without thinking about how Brad Pitt has fallen. Maybe it’s because of that that I feel his acting, at least in the trailer, seemed a little flat.
CHRISTINA: I agree. The way he was delivering his lines, it seems like he was just kinda phoning it in.
PAIGE: The premise is unrealistic. Is it ever good strategy to have someone take out someone they love? Too many variables. Like, have someone else assassinate her and then tell him afterward. Why would you tell him “welp, better do it yourself in three days?” Or like, send him on a mission somewhere and have her die in an accident while he’s gone. So many other ways to handle this. The strategy here is very dumb. It distracts from literally everything. Or is it that too much Pitt baggage from the outside is eclipsing everything this movie is trying to do. Or is that just because this movie just doesn’t really look that great? It looks weirdly Oscarbaity, but in a very cheap way.
