Greyhound is a thrilling Atlantic run
Tom Hanks is making a new action movie based on World War II, and what’s not to psych about? Greyhound is a new American war film directed by Aaron Schneider and based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd
by C.S. Forester. It illustrates the life and death moments of the Battle of the Atlantic in early 1942.
The film was initially scheduled to be theatrically released last month, but was delayed due to the pandemic, and is now eventually being dropped on Apple TV+.
This is no doubt a well-crafted war movie with impressive visuals and sounds, but whether you’re going to like it or not probably depends on what you are expecting. You’ll enjoy it if you’re already a fan of Tom Hanks or looking for an action movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but if you’re looking for an in-depth drama with character development, then Greyhound may not satisfy.
Hanks stars in and also wrote the screenplay for this film. The veteran actor seems to have an admiration for war movies and their specific eras in history, and especially the heroes who fought in them. We’ve seen him play a kid with learning disabilities who went on to become a war hero in Forrest Gump (1994), the fearless captain who brings his army squad through a mission impossible in Saving Private Ryan
(1998), then he executive produced war TV series like Band Of Brothers (2001) and The Pacific (2010).
In his latest film role, Hanks plays Ernest Krause, a US Navy officer and first-time captain tasked with protecting a convoy of 37 ships carrying thousands of soldiers and supplies across the Atlantic ocean on a dangerous voyage to England only months after the US officially entered World War II.
Most of the scenes in Greyhound were shot on a decommissioned battleship and they make full use of that environment. Once Hanks’ character Captain Krause gets on board, that’s when the non-stop action starts, whether its a Nazi U-boat that suddenly shows up on sonar and fires on them, or a torpedo from another ship, or an onboard fire, these scenarios keep happening constantly so that we forget to breathe. Much of the film is Krause peering out of windows, looking at the radar and making plans, calculating and trying to figure out how to handle each dangerous situation.
The musical score is one of the highlights and really helps elevate the intensity of the mood and atmosphere. The sound design and its haunting ambient editing really gets you into the vibe and makes you feel like you are there with these sailors. The movie also showcases how warships were operated during that time, their abilities, and limitations. The film never stops indicating that the technology back then was way different from what the military has today, even the communication line has to be precisely relayed from one person to another, and a split second misinterpretation of the information can cause disaster.
As good as this action-oriented script is, Hanks’ performance as the new captain is believable. His immense maritime research and knowledge, including navy slang and vocab, helps intensify the situation so much that even if we don’t necessarily understand the conversations between each person, we can sense when things are escalating.
Greyhound is not a film that clutters things up with backstory, and doesn’t care much for character depth and development. You have no idea who those people are under many of the helmets on the ship. You also don’t get much information on our protagonist except that he has a woman, Evelyn (Elisabeth Shue), the love of his life whom he’s saying goodbye to before he gets on the battleship. But that’s about it about with his backstory, and I’m sure this may bother some of the audience who wanted to relate to these characters more. But there’s enough pros about this film to make up for its flaws, and pay off for certain movie lovers. Especially considering the 90-minute runtime, which is quite short, the filmmakers have managed to pack the movie to the fullest.