Greyhound Movie Review: Tom Hanks Once Again Comes to the Rescue in This Intense but Hollow World War II Thriller

Greyhound Movie Review: Imagine if the pandemic would have never happened. The theatre business would have normal; we would have all gotten our big screen treats. Films like Black Widow and Mulan would have made it to the theatres. And Aaron Schneider's Greyhound would have been watched on the big screen, preferably in IMAX. Would that have made a difference? In the case of Greyhound, it does. A lot. This was to be a theatrical experience, 134 minutes of adrenaline thrill, banking on the never-disappointing Tom Hanks, that would have been a different experience altogether on the big screen. Greyhound: Tom Hanks’ World War Drama to Premiere on Apple TV Plus on July 10.

Alas! Coronavirus happened, and we are now stuck at homes watching Greyhound on Apple TV (Plus, I must add) on our small screens. It is with certain bitterness, I am writing this. Not at the makers or the platform, because frankly, it isn't their fault. But at the plight we are in, that it doesn't seem likely that watching a movie on big screen is a possibility this year.

Anyway, leaving my bitterness aside, let's return to reviewing Greyhound. After leading men on land during World War II in the epic (and possibly the best war film) Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks now does so on the seas, once again in World War II.

Greyhound is set during the time when the USA had just entered the war, as part of the Allied Forces to beat Germany and its allies. The movie depicts the Battle of Atlantic that happened in 1942, when Allied Warships cruising on the Atlantic Ocean were dogged and attacked by German U-Boats. Greyhound Review: Tom Hanks' WW2 Film Gets Mixed Response From Critics.

The movie focuses on  Captain Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks), an experienced American Naval officer who gets his first opportunity to lead the Allied ships across the Atlantic. His task isn't easy, as like sharks who smelt blood, the German submarines keep following him and the other ships stubbornly. If Krause's ship sink one, the victory is short-lived and another U-boat surfaces to take down one of the Allied vessels. Greyhound, which happens to be the nickname of Krause's ship, not only has to ensure the safety of the other ships, but also of its own crew.

Watch the Trailer of Greyhound:

Any movie with Tom Hanks (who has also written the screenplay of Greyhound) in it is highly watchable, and Greyhound is, more or less, no exception. It is a relentless thriller that drags the hero and his men from one dangerous confrontation to another. The only brief scenes of respite that comes are in the begging and near the end.

Since nearly the entire film is set on a warship, there are plenty, and I mean plenty, of nautical jargons thrown around. But once the action gets thicker, it feels like we are following everything that comes out Krause and his men's mouths. The sea-battle scenes are deftly shot, with enough amount of tension and thrill pumped in, with several moments making us hold our breath with its intensity. Shelly Johnson's camera does justice to capturing worried closeups of Krause's face to an exquisite shot of a scene leaving the action on the sea to go beyond the clouds to reveal the beauty of the aurora. Blake Neely's rumbling score given an epic feel to these scenes.

However, the pulsating thrill comes with its own set of problems, namely lack of character development. We don't get to know any of the people we see in the film, and hardly even catch their names. That includes Krause himself, though he is given some background. Like having a girlfriend (Elizabeth Shue in a cameo) or that he loves to quote the Bible when he has to make a terse decision. Apart from that, though, Greyhound doesn't exactly do a good job of capturing his inner turmoil, his fear of the heavy cost that a wrong decision of his could make. Hanks, as an actor, hints at that with worried lines on his face saying so; the film not so much.

Greyhound has a few recognisable faces in the supporting cast, like Snatch's Stephen Graham, Luke Cage's Rob Morgan, The Magnificent Seven's Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Love's Karl Glusman, 13 Reasons Why's Devin Druid et al. But they are just that, familiar faces in a roster of underdeveloped characters. The movie hints at their apprehensions over Krause's leadership, but it doesn't go beyond a few doubtful glances. Even when a couple of them gets killed during the attacks, we don't really get to feel the impact, for we hardly know them.

What also doesn't help Greyhound's case is that we have seen better developed films in the same genre, most notably being Das Boot and Crimson Tide. Which brings me back to the lockdown crisis and the problem it raises - would Greyhound have been a better watching experience on the big screen? Like Dunkirk? The answer would have been a resounding yes.

Yay!

- Tom Hanks

- The intense battle scenes

Nay!

- Lack of Character Development

- Deserved a Big-Screen Experience

Final Thoughts

Greyhound makes for an intense watch, with its breath-taking battle sequences and of course, Tom Hanks always in dependable form. What sets it back are the weak characters and the small screen experience. Greyhound is streaming on Apple TV Plus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 10, 2020 10:22 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).