‘Greyhound’ is a solid naval movie that should have been in theaters

Posted on July 17, 2020

By MARK VIOLA

There hasn’t been a really good naval war film in quite a long while. “Battleship,” the 2012 film based on the classic board game, became a messy battle against aliens that mostly forgot about the ships by the third act, but it did prove that special effects technology had reached a point where we could produce a good looking naval movie if it was in more competent hands.

So, imagine my disappointment when last year’s “Midway,” which was much better than any of us had the right to expect, arrived with subpar effects and a story that mostly followed pilots rather than sailors.

Earlier this year, we got the trailer for World War II film “Greyhound,” starring Tom Hanks (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”), who also penned the screenplay based on “The Good Shepherd” by C.S. Forester (“Horatio Hornblower”). Originally set for a theatrical release prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, it instead made its debut on Apple TV+ last weekend.

Although there are countless films about World War II, there are very few modern films concerning the naval side of things, and even less focused on the European Theatre and the Atlantic.

“Greyhound” follows Krause (Hanks), an inexperienced U.S. Navy captain who must lead an Allied convoy of supply and troop ships from America to England, all the while being stalked by a pack of Nazi U-boats.

At just 90-minutes, “Greyhound” is often a nail-biting affair, but while a short runtime often helps a movie maintain its tension, I actually feel in this case that an additional 15 or so minutes would have actually helped make this one even more intense.

Subscribe to our e-Edition and read the rest of the story. Already a subscriber? Click here to sign in.