Greyhound; Congrats to Apple Plus on the Acquisition... Too Bad It’s Not Special. Grade: C

You know how I can tell time has been going by?! When you ordered an autographed The Weeknd After Hours album at the end of March, as it takes 20 weeks to ship, you realize your exactly two weeks away from reaching that point... Crazy how time flies by.

Greyhound tells a story about a U.S. Navy Captain named Krause (Tom Hanks) whom is leading a ship. The ship however is being stalked by a Nazi ship, as Krause must find ways to overcome this enemy at hand. Will Krause and his crew make it out alive?! That’s basically it regarding the plot of Greyhound.

The Cinematography was fine, surely this film would look MUCH better in a theater, as it kind of looks like something out of a video game. Just majority of the film looks entirely fake to me, as it never once captured the time period of World War 2 era. The Score was pretty mediocre, as it felt reminiscent to mainly of what a Christopher Nolan film would sound like. The cast all in all was fine, but nothing remotely special. Tom Hanks once again playing a captain of a ship, was fine. Not as good as he was in his role in Captain Phillips, honestly felt like a watered down version of that role this time around. Regarding the character Krause... There’s not much depth to him, other than letting go the love of his life for this mission. To be honest I don’t really understand why this film actually gave us any detail towards this character, as it becomes irrelevant over the course of time.

Greyhound was originally going to have a theatrical release, but due to Covid-19 they transition to a V.O.D. release on Apple Plus Streaming Service. I thought it was a good move by Apple Plus, considering the fact the lack of content doesn’t make one subscribe to their service. On the plus side if you purchase a new Apple product like an IPhone, Watch, Computer you get a year free of the service, so that’s a nice perk. I thought what was surprising about this acquisition is the fact this film was distributed by Sony Pictures... Sony and Apple are rivals in the technology department, so that meant Apple was desperate to have this. I can see why Greyhound turned to streaming... This film is not special at all.

Greyhound in a way is reminiscing to Dunkirk, where it’s less about character development, as it’s catering towards the experience. The difference is Dunkirk had a lot more to offer regarding experience, as there was a lot more things happening, despite I’m not much of a fan of that film, at least I can acknowledge there was at least excitement along the way. With Greyhound I believe I’m rewatching the same scenes over and over again, as at times it can look thrilling, yet due to it’s repetitive nature it comes off rather bland for my taste. I liked some of the sequences, regarding how difficult it was to take down this Nazi submarine, as it was kind of cool how the ship blended within the waters as it was a pain in the ass to track. What could’ve made this film at least a bit more exciting, is having Nazi characters shown on screen, rather than over an intercom and the submarine. It could’ve made the film at least a little more entertaining, yet this film rather not have them shown for some reason. We’re only shown inside a ship in which we have a bland main character to begin with, why not switch it up a bit?!

I think a theatrical release would’ve actually helped this film out, as it could’ve possibly helped the experience. When it comes down to the sound, the scenery, and what’s taken place... It just doesn’t do it much justice on a TV screen honestly. Same can be said about Dunkirk as I hope people now understand, why Nolan thinks the theatrical experience is extremely important. I know MANY people say Dunkirk just doesn’t work transitioning from a theater to television, as the experience is less enjoyable. I think this could’ve made good money at the box office, I mean freaking Midway made 125 million. A nice W for Apple but an L for Sony. Greyhound is one of those films in which doesn’t really do anything bad on any aspect, but it’s certainly doesn’t do anything well as well.

Overall, Greyhound is what it is... Mediocre, as it will become forgettable over the course of time. I’d skip this film, it’s just nothing special. If you want an exciting War film is that is mainly focused on the experience then watch 1917 or Dunkirk. If you want to watch a film in which is mainly focus on crucial strategic strategy, then watch Eye in the Sky.-Mitch Smietana