ALLIED is a little too long by 15 to 20 minutes.  If the story was a little tighter, it would be a great World War 2 romantic thriller and yet some shots are director Robert Zemeckis wanting to set up clever shots instead of focusing on what the scenes need..   Some of the visual effects shot blend seamlessly where the ones involving fake desert stand out like a sore thumb.  ALLIED tries to invoke the feel of CASABLANCA for the first half of the movie, but the scenes are too long and a tighter script would have benefited the movie all around.  They even make fun of how Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is too serious, but I wonder if it is an unintentional stab at his acting skills.  Max works with a French resistance fighter Marianne (Marion Cottilard) to assassinate a German ambassador in Casablanca.  They survive the mission and Max asks Marianne to be his wife.  Time passes and Max is told that a blue dye has been put on Marriane as they suspect she is a German spy.  Max searches for the truth even when the British intelligence section tells him not to.

 

 

SPECIAL EFFECTS:

67 minutes of making-of featurettes:

STORY OF ALLIED- how Robert Zemeckis got involved in directing the movie along with a little about the story of the movie

FROM STAGES TO THE SAHARA: THE PRODUCTION DESIGN OF ALLIED- a look at how they shot the movie on location and on stage with the help of blue screen

THROUGH THE LENS: DIRECTING WITH ROBERT ZEMECKIS- cast and crew talk about how it is to work with the director

A STITCH IN TIME: THE COSTUMES OF ALLIED- all about the costume design of ALLIED

‘TIL DEATH DO US PART: MAX AND MARIANNE- a focus on the two leads (Brad Pitt and Marion Cottilard) and the characters they play

GUYS AND GALS: THE ENSEMBLE CAST- a featurette on the rest of the cast

LIGHTS, PIXELS, ACTION!: THE VISUAL EFFECTS OF ALLIED- a look at how they used visual effects t help create the world of the movie

BEHID THE WHEEL: THE VEHICLES OF ALLIED

LOCKED AND LOADED: THE WEAPONS OF ALLIED- talk about the weapons of the movie and how they modified the barrel of one gun to make it look better on the screen

THE SWINGIN’ SOUND: THE MUSIC OF ALLIED- a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of the score and swing music in ALLIED

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  ALLIED could have been a great movie, but it is a romantic World War 2 thriller which is 10 to 15 minutes long which could have used tighter scenes.  The making-of featurettes give an extensive look at the making of the movie.

 

This review is ©3-6-2017 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com