Watch Allied
- R
- 2016
- 2 hr 4 min
-
7.1 (169,134)
Allied is a romantic thriller from 2016 that features Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, two of the most talented actors in Hollywood. This movie is set during World War II in North Africa, England, and France, and follows two spies, Max (Brad Pitt) and Marianne (Marion Cotillard), who work to assassinate a German official. They fall in love while working together, but soon Max begins to suspect Marianne of being a double agent.
The movie starts with Max, a Canadian intelligence officer, parachuting into the vast North African desert. There, he meets Marianne, a French Resistance fighter who is assigned to pose as his wife. Their mission is to attend a party held by a high-ranking German official, who is rumored to have a secret underground base. While at the party, they successfully carry out their mission and kill the official. Throughout this sequence, the cinematography is stunning, showcasing the warm, orange-brown hues of the desert at sunset, contrasted with the cold steel of the German equipment.
After the mission, Max and Marianne settle in London, get married and have a child. However, Max receives information suggesting that Marianne may be a spy. Despite his misgivings, he conducts his own investigation, which takes him to a series of witnesses in different parts of London. This part of the movie is tense and thrilling, as Max tries to reconcile his love for Marianne with his suspicions.
As the investigation progresses, Max's world slowly falls apart. The tension builds up as he becomes increasingly paranoid, and it's hard to know who he should trust. In one particularly heart-wrenching scene, Max confronts Marianne, demanding that she prove that she is not a spy. Marion Cotillard gives an incredible performance here, showcasing just how vulnerable Marianne is despite her strength.
The second part of the movie takes place in France, where Max and Marianne now live with their child. Max has been given a mission to work with the French Resistance to destroy a railway bridge. As a result of the previous doubts, Max is told that if the mission were to go wrong, Marianne would be killed as she is the only person who can be traced back to Max's investigation. The atmosphere in France is claustrophobic, with Germans patrolling the streets, and the dread the couple feels knowing that Marianne is at risk is palpable.
In the final act, the tension is turned up to eleven. The mission takes place in a spectacularly staged sequence that is memorable for its dynamism and the clever ways in which Max and his team approach their goal. But tension between Max and Marianne doesn't dissipate, and when it is resolved late in the movie, the twist that follows will leave you breathless.
Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, and the rest of the cast do an excellent job in this movie, but they can't take all the credit. Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) directs it with flair, and, as mentioned before, the cinematography is gorgeous. The movie is shot with an old-school, classic film feel, which is refreshing when compared with some of the overly stylized movies of the last decade. Everything about this movie, from the costumes to the set design, is impeccably produced, which comes as no surprise given Zemeckis' pedigree.
Overall, Allied is an excellent movie. It blends romance and thriller in a way that will satisfy fans of both genres. It's tense, thrilling, and has a satisfying, twisty ending. Additionally, its attention to design and authenticity makes it worth paying attention to, even for people who might not be fans of the genre.
Allied is a 2016 action movie with a runtime of 2 hours and 4 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.1 and a MetaScore of 60.