Review of Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie

I had never heard of Unbroken until one Tuesday I had nothing to do and decided I was going to sit down and watch a movie. I have a tendency to scroll through Netflix and decide to sit there for twenty minutes, looking through the options, and then deciding I’m not going to watch anything.

But this time I played that game when I ended up closing my eyes, lifted my finger after counting to fifteen, and then watching what the cursor lands on. It was Unbroken this time.

It was deeply ironic that I watched this because I’ve been on a massive kick recently when it comes to World War literature and movies, and here I was playing the movie version of shuffle and landing on the same topic. Life works in strange ways sometimes.

This wasn’t my first movie directed by Jolie though, and I am aware of her tendencies as a director ever since watching First They Killed My Father. I didn’t love this movie upfront, but I wouldn’t say it’s bad either.

Onwards with the review!

Former Olympian Louis Zamperini is held at a Japanese prisoner of war camp in World War II.

The way this narrative unfolds is a weaving of the past and present. Although we end up focusing mainly on the present that’s unfolding in real time with the camera, we dive into the past to see how Zamperini is the way he is.

He grew up in an Italian American household and that feeds into his wants later when he’s in the POW camp; at one point it’s even mentioned that he wants his mother’s gnocchi when he goes home. Before enlisting in the army during World War II, Zamperini was an Olympic runner for the long distance.

He didn’t win any medals, but he ended up getting some acclaim because of it.

When World War II starts for the Americans, Louis enlists and is sent to the Pacific. The year is 1943 when Louis is sent on a mission to a Japanese occupied island. He flies planes now, and when his plane is damaged in combat, they end up on a runway.

Their tire has exploded, but once they deem it time to leave, they end up flying out there. But the worst case scenario ends up happening: their engine fails. The plane crashes into the ocean, and everyone drowns except for Louis, Mac, and Phil.

The three men end up on a life raft, which will be their life for the next two months. At one point they see a plane and try to get its attention, but fail to do so. They end up trying to eat a seagull at one point and puke up what they just ate, then eat fish that they can get their hands on.

The water around them is also infested with sharks, so if they fall out with a bloody injury, it’s game over for them. Almost a month in, they are spotted by a Japanese plane, which shoots at them.

The life rafts are damaged during that incident, and Mac ends up dying not long after that. They wrap his body and push it into the sea instead of eating him. Not long after that, a Japanese ship finds them.

The captain demands for information about the kinds of planes and radios the Americans are using, but the two men are unable to give him that information. When they are led outside and presume they’re about to be executed, they’re instead given a harsh shower and separated.

Louie ends up being sent to a camp run by a notorious Japanese corporal, Watanabe, who takes a liking to cruelly beating those who are put in his camps. Louie is a particular target for him, and their days are spent in a cat and mouse game in the POW camp.

The Japanese find out that Louie was a former Olympian and give him the chance to speak a message to his parents, but it’s only an opportunity to butter him up to try and convince him that he needs to send out propaganda messages for them in English. He refuses.

Watanabe is moved up and things seem peaceful after he’s going, but when an American plane damages the POW camp, they are all sent to the camp Watanabe has been moved to.

There everyone is forced to do hard labor for the name of the Japanese war efforts, and Watanabe continues his little game with Louie. The key problem for Watanabe is that Louie defiantly looks him in the eye the first time the meet, and refuses to break, which leaves him wanting to break the guy down in the name of a power clench.

The Americans win the war not too long after that and Louie goes to Watanabe’s room to find him gone. The only thing there is a picture with father—a sign that he, too, is just a human being living a completely different life than everyone around him.

The movie then ends after Louie is home describing the rest of his life and how he returned to Japan, with Watanabe refusing to meet him during that time.

Overall Thoughts

Not the greatest movie, but it had some pretty decent acting in it throughout. I didn’t think that it was boring per say, but it was another one of those movies that seemed like it happened because it was too much of a shiny true story to not turn into something cinematic.

Maybe I’ve been watching too many World War movies lately (spoiler: I am), but I think this one was just average at the end of the day. It certainly will make me remember the name Louis “Louie” Zamperini though!

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