X
- 2016
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 2 h
- 2016
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 2 h
Summary Anthropoid is based on the extraordinary true story of "Operation Anthropoid," the code name for the Czechoslovakian operatives' mission to assassinate SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution, was the Reich's third in command behind Hitler and Himmler and the leader of Nazi forces in Czechoslo...
Directed By: Sean Ellis
Written By: Anthony Frewin, Sean Ellis
- 2016
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 2 h
- 2016
- R
- Bleecker Street Media
- 2 h
Anthropoid
59
7.2
Where to Watch
Summary Anthropoid is based on the extraordinary true story of "Operation Anthropoid," the code name for the Czechoslovakian operatives' mission to assassinate SS officer Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution, was the Reich's third in command behind Hitler and Himmler and the leader of Nazi forces in Czechoslo...
Directed By: Sean Ellis
Written By: Anthony Frewin, Sean Ellis
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
59
59% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
38% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
59
59% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
38% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Aided by co-screenwriter Anthony Frewin, Ellis takes his time in this slow-burning thriller, which often feels more like a character study.
A compelling and moving interpretation of a largely forgotten moment in European history.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 75 User Ratings
7.2
67% Positive
50 Ratings
50 Ratings
32% Mixed
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 75 User Ratings
7.2
67% Positive
50 Ratings
50 Ratings
32% Mixed
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
1% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Based on the real events surrounding the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich. Starring Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan. Leaves you speechless, from the very moment it starts it grips you and drags you through a highly suspenseful and distressing journey. A truly breathtaking movie. Strongly recommended, without a doubt one of the easiest 10's I ever gave.
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Some of these scenes are masterful – and sometimes difficult to watch. But the real horror – mass revenge killings by the Nazis, including the obliteration of the entire village of Lidice – takes place off-screen.
Dramatically, it’s not much of a movie, but if you just want to know how things went down, it’s certainly a more exciting précis than Wikipedia’s.
Of all the World War II movies about the plots to kill the architects of the Third Reich, Anthropoid is guilty of being the dullest.
The trouble is that for all the narrative intrigue and excitement such an endeavor might suggest, director Sean Ellis’ less-than-dramatic recreation of this daring act of defiance proves surprisingly stiff...barely redeemed by an even more surprisingly intense finale.
A bad movie with a good title.
Well acted movie that shows there's more to war than just action scenes, it affects both sexes and all people in different ways. We start with parachuters on a mission unprepared for what they must do and what simple relationships will do to them. You never know what will strengthen you as a human and as a soldier.
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A lovingly shot, but cliched historical action thriller, Anthropoid is an above average film. Telling the true story about the men responsible for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, third-in-command for the ****, the film is clearly powerful. An undertold story of the strength of the Czechoslovakian resistance and an obviously important moment in World War II, Operation Anthropoid receives its due regards in this film from director Sean Ellis. Unfortunately, it is a mixed bag. While it has terrific cinematography, good acting, and a tremendous assassination, the latter comes too early and the film loses steam. Of course, the cliched beginning with a love triangle and the cliched WWII action sequence at the end also hinder the game. That said, the assassination is so damn good.
Starring Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan as the men responsible for the assassination, Anthropoid's greatest asset is the assassination sequence. As most people should know (I ashamedly did not), they were successful to a degree. It is likely that Sean Ellis assumed building up to such a well known event would not be suspenseful enough. However, he is shown to be wrong. In the first half of this film, the build up, the planning, and the anxiety of the situation are terrifically captured. The following nervy, thrilling, and suspenseful assassination is tremendously captured. Ellis' camera makes the occasion incredibly intimate with a cloud of smoke billowing out of the area in the aftermath. The intensity of the lead up and the panic of the moments directly after is incredibly effective in setting the moment and capturing it with beautiful images and a tremendous action sequence. Rather than playing into cliches here, the film sets it apart with a unique, intense, and unexpected moment of brilliance. It also makes me want to see Jamie Dornan in a neo-noir film set in the 1940s. The suit and fedora look is just so right for him.
The other strength of this film is the cinematography and production design. Shot through a sepia filter, the film looks old school and, in conjunction with the sets and locations, looks and feels authentic. Anthropoid really captures 1942 Czechoslovakia and turns it into a beautiful painting. To bolster this, Ellis sprinkles in some absolutely gorgeous shots. These include shots of the sun spilling through the sees in a forest and an aerial shot a bridge in Prague and sun reflecting off the water and the rays going under the bridge. With these shots and the general aesthetic under its belt, WWII Czechoslovakia has never looked so good and Ellis makes sure to capture this beauty.
Unfortunately, its love triangle and cliched second half derail the film. With boring scenes of torture and a lackluster finale shootout in a church, Anthropoid turns into nothing more than a run-of-the-mill action thriller. The power that this really happened does not help as numerous true stories have shown the exact same action. This bad ending is proof that the assassination came too soon. It should have been the climax instead. The film would have been more detailed and a lot slower for sure, but its ending would have been worthy of the heroism on display. It is the moment that sets its heroes apart. Instead of ending there, however, Ellis' film drags on for a cliched final hour that turns them into nothing more than soldiers in a World War II film. Their identities are forgotten with writing that failed to create worthwhile characters that are memorable. They may die in a hail of bullets, but the film was killed long before. Now, I should say that the action sequence is fine. It looks good and is pretty thrilling, but there are too many films with it that pretend to be WWII thrillers. This sea of bullets turns it into nothing more than a cliched film with no element to separate it from similar films.
Tremendously shot with a great assassination sequence, Anthropoid may be pretty, but it is nothing but above average. The ending is cliched, the characters underdeveloped, and the romance ill-advised. That said, the strengths of the film are so incredible, Anthropoid is impossible to look past.
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Anthropoid is about the people who attempted to carry out Operation Anthropoid, an operation that, if successful, would eliminate an officer of **** who was third in line.
I would like to say that's the plotline, but there's just one key catch: it's not interesting until nearly half-way in.
That's pretty much the only flaw in this movie, but it's still half of a movie. That first half is all set-up that takes way too long. Most of this set-up is entirely pointless and doesn't develop the characters. Aside from almost an hour of pointlessness, the characters aren't as deep or rich as they should be.
That being said, I enjoyed the action and the stand-off in the other half. They were well deserved and well-filmed. If anything, this movie is really only worth watching because of the action that puts Hollywood to shame. However, it gains nothing more than the seal of mediocrity for having too much exposition with too little payoff and kind-of flat characters.
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Another modern film spoiled by poor writing. When oh when will directors realise they are not screenwriters? Sean Ellis manages to turn what could have been a gripping story into a turgid melodrama. Heydrich's assassination is largely remembered for the disgusting aftermath where the Germans massacred 15,000 Czechs in Lidice and Ležaky. That was barely alluded to in the film yet the director spent several minutes depicting the torture of individual resistance fighters. Little surprise that this poor film lost money at the boy office.
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Awards
Czech Lions
• 1 Win & 13 Nominations
British Independent Film Awards
• 1 Nomination
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
• 1 Nomination
