The Bravest (2019)

There is a great, dramatic story here, but it’s buried in such a melodramatic and overwrought story that I was actually rolling my eyes and snorting after a while.

You know what’s going to happen to the characters since everything is telegraphed in the first half hour. It follows just about every cliche so you know that each early scene was a set-up to a predictable outcome.

This hits you on the head with the emotional scenes and, yes, the patriotic scenes. If this were an American Muppet movie, Sam the Eagle would pop up and say “at times like this, I’m proud to be an American” about a dozen times. Also, I haven’t seen so many grown men burst into tears this often, This is not a subtle movie.

The cast do what they can to ground this movie and there are some great (and not great) special effects. That’s as much upside as I can come up with.

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A gripping emotional roller-coaster with bumps on the tracks

I knew this was a disaster movie going in. Like most disaster movies of any kind, you brace for a wild ride and this movie did not disappoint.
Though it had a few flaws in terms of believability for certain actions of the main characters, the overall picture painted is a stunning piece of cinematography.
The absolute best part of this movie for me was how absolutely terrifying it was to watch the fire spread everywhere like a monster attacking. The low growls and roaring sound effects used were amazing and effective, making it seem like the fire itself was alive and fighting to claw it's way through every obstacle like a monster. Yet not in an overly exaggerated way. I got chills watching the fire scenes unfold.
Next to that there are also a few scenes that pulled me out of the story again. The exaggerated performance of a firefighter staying amidst fire and smoke for hours trying to close a valve while his protective gloves have burned away, seems a bit unrealistic to me. As is the death scene of my favorite actor Zhang Zhe Han. He delivered it well enough, but it was drawn out and quite fake. I get they want to make it emotional and really wreck the viewers with sad feelings, and trust me i had them. But it's a point that is a glitch in this otherwise fantastic movie.
Next to the patriotic theme and the complexity of heroes culture, this was an amazing film. I would watch it again. 9/10

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