Review: Greyhound

Image courtesy of Apple TV+

Tom Hanks gets another chance to explore his fascination with World War II - following his leading turn in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" and his executive producer role on "Band of Brothers" - in the lean action thriller "Greyhound," a competent exercise of skill that is visually impressive and occasionally intense, even if lacking somewhat in other departments.

The only small bit of characterization we get for Capt. Krause (Hanks, who also wrote the film's screenplay) is at the beginning of the picture when he meets a woman (Elisabeth Shue) with whom he's romantically involved in a lobby, where he suggests she meet him overseas for a rendezvous - and where he drops a hint about proposing to her - but she tells him she'd rather wait until he's back safely from the mission he's about to undertake.

That mission involves Krause taking command of the USS Keeling - also known as Greyhound - while leading a convoy of 37 Allied ships across the Atlantic Ocean in 1942. Those familiar with history will recognize this as part of the Battle of the Atlantic, during which Allied ships and German U-boats engaged in what is known as the most complex Naval battle in history and thousands of lives were lost.

The mission is Krause's first across the Atlantic, and we get a few moments of him praying and some strategy discussions with his second-in-command (Stephen Graham). Otherwise, much of the film's brief 82 minutes involve Hanks pacing in and out of the ship's command center while either navigating dangerous waters, where U-boats are lurking beneath, or announcing maneuvers to protect the convoy.

A large percent of the film feels as if it were in a foreign language - Krause and the men aboard the ship continuously shout out Naval jargon involving degrees, rudders and methods of attack. For a film in which the camera is primarily focused on people wandering around the control room of a ship or overhead shots of ships attempting to outmaneuver or fire at each other, "Greyhound" mostly remains visually interesting.

But the picture often feels more like a Naval vocabulary test, rather than an action movie in which characters are developed and, therefore, make us care about their fate. Of course, we want to see the Greyhound sink the Gray Wolf, a German U-boat that comes off as a serial killer in the way in the way it lurks just out of sight and sends over verbal messages through the Greyhound's speakers, taunting the crew. But this has more to do with a thirst for seeing Nazism defeated, rather than the film making us feel for its characters.

Not surprisingly, Hanks is always a great person with whom to keep company during the course of a movie because he has screen presence and elicits empathy. On the other hand, this film is a technical exercise in which most other elements - character development and narrative, especially - take a back seat. Other films - say, "Mad Max: Fury Road" - can pull off such a feat successfully, but the brief running time of "Greyhound" doesn't give it enough time to draw us in, and the confined spaces - whereas "Mad Max" utilized its vast expanses - can only go so far visually.

Ultimately, "Greyhound" isn't a bad movie, but it's not nearly as good as you'd think, considering Hanks' previous involvement in films about World War II. It feels more like a B-film a director would make with a low budget and no-name actors, rather than a major studio picture with a big star. The film's ending is effective and provides a few moments of emotional resonance once the mission is completed, but it also serves as a reminder of what had been missing throughout the rest of the film, which comes off as more of a technical exercise.