Movie Review: Belfast (2021)

I love Kenneth Branagh. As a director, he’s definitely had his share of duds, but he’s also given us three of the best Shakespeare adaptations ever, and a couple of the greatest films of all time in Henry V and Hamlet.

This movie is somewhere between his Shakespeare heights and his Jack Ryan lows. I mean, it’s a good movie. But it’s not the most engaging one. The opening scene is absolutely amazing. It’s such a perfect encapsulation of the loss of innocence that a child would face in the Troubles.

The rest of the movie isn’t as good as this scene, but that’s not to say it’s bad. It’s a good performance-driven movie, and young Jude Hill is astounding in his film debut.

While I was engaged in the story because I know a lot about the Troubles and Ireland and its history and all that, I could see someone who doesn’t know that much about this just not really enjoying it. But I liked it.

Rating: 8/10