Unbroken Movie Review

As y'all might know, occasionally Leah and I will go outside the Ya/Na world and read a fiction. memoir, poetry, contemporary, and so on. I recently read  Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. When I decided to read it it was because I saw it was becoming a movie. I had no idea how moving this story was going to be.


I did a short review on the book after finishing it, which I'm posting below.

    "I managed to squeeze this book in between several others I'm reading and I wont lie I saw the movie trailer and knew that I had to read it. This book is BEAUTIFUL, sad, and made me cry. It's a heart breaking and moving story that everyone should pick up. How one man could go through so much and not be broken by it is what will bring you to tears.

I hope too one day find the same courage and strength that Louis Zamperini had. And that when the catalyst of my life happens that I will come out stronger and wiser because of it. This book will give you hope. I absolutely can't wait to see this play out on the big screen. I'll be there Christmas Day tissues in hand."

I unfortunately didn't get to go on Christmas day because of family scheduling BUT I just left the theater about a hour ago from seeing it and figured I'd do a review while it was still fresh.

I have never before left a theater after seeing a page to film and had nothing at all the say negative about it. You know how it is... You leave and right away you and your friend start listing off and comparing between the two. I have no negative feedback to give. This movie was breathtaking and left me speechless.  

Everything from the scene set up to casting in my opinion were flawless. Seeing such well known authors in a new setting was amazing. You might not even have known there were such big names in this movie (that is unless you're like me and love books to film). Jolie cast Domhnall Gleeson who you would know as Bill Weasley from Harry Potter Series, About Time, and the upcoming Star Wars film. Another actor you might have heard of was Jai Courtney. He is mostly known for playing Eric in The Divergent movies, but is also set to be in the the new Terminator film coming out next year. Even with those names present there is no doubt who stole the show... Jack O'Connell. He is who plays Louis Zamperini in this film. I have only ever seen him in one other film and that was 300. With that being said he will be an actor I will keep an eye on in the future.

Unbroken shows the life of Louis Zamperini, who was a an Olympic athlete who joined the armed forces
during the second world war. Only to be captured by the Japanese navy after a plane crash in the Pacific. After surviving at sea for over a month in a raft he was then captured by the Japanese only to be thrown into several POW camps. The flow from one scene to the next, the depiction of how a person can be so torn apart, to the dramatic conclusion has me struggling to even write a review for this movie. It was just simple a film that I feel everyone needs to go see.

How someone can go through what he went through and come out of it as well as he did is something in itself. There is no way I could have gone through or done the thing he did to survive. This was a film I was so glad I got to see before the year ended. I know people keep saying that Angelina Jolie is still such a mystery when it comes to directing but if this is what we have to look forward too in the future from her, then I am on pins and needles until the next film she releases. A strong book and an equally strong movie.

“A lifetime of glory is worth a moment of pain. Louie thought: Let go.”

 10/10 Stars
-Angela