Operation War Thunder

Directed by James Peakman

2024

Bader Media Entertainment

Operation War Thunder begins with Gary Pratt, a suicidal car dealer - played subtly by Andrew Simpson - whose every action and movement feels somehow laughed at by the universe and designed to submerge him deeper into his slumber. With every good deed he does, a negative repercussion seems certain to come. Even when he gives a lady her purse back, she misidentifies him as an attacker, makes him miss his bus and slaps him on the face. And his desperate suicide attempts are somehow always stopped at the last possible moment.

But when Gary receives the codeword for his father’s death (Operation War Thunder), he reunites with his estranged brother Tommy, a charismatic pale ale addict played by James Peakman (also the film’s director). And the pair head to their childhood home in search of their father’s will and begin to confront the roots of their strained brotherhood, until something much more sinister tries to confront them too.

For a film made for less than £1000, the results are endlessly impressive. The diversity of location and cinematography lends the film a cinematic scope sometimes absent from low-budget features. Similar can be said for the performances. Both brothers and their father’s neighbour Mrs. Wells, who is delightfully portrayed by deaf musician Sam Lord, all contribute to the wit and charm of the piece.

It executes its comedy well and feels inspired by an early Edgar Wright piece in the vein of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead. OWT is extremely successful in this regard, intelligently gearing towards some well-orchestrated timed jokes and needle drops. Similarly, the editing lends itself to this comparison, favouring Wright’s now unmistakable quick cuts as a trick to mislead, and be mischievous with its audience. As Bader Media Group said, their intention with the piece was to have fun, and this certainly delivers in that regard and translates extremely well to its audience.

Despite this wit, the film also dares to be bolder and refuses to be categorised, boasting an emotionally compelling and satisfying reconciliation between two tortured souls. The stand-out of this being an 8-minute outpouring of emotion between the brothers about their past and childhoods. Their chemistry and fracture is realised strongly by both performers and each inhabit their pain expertly.

Where this film slightly loses its steam is pacing and dialogue. The consistent expository dialogue feels mechanised and is handled a bit clumsily. Information is repeated and explained as if deliberately talking to the audience and sometimes feels parodic in its placement. In scenes of tension, the interjection of humour frustratingly suspends the action in favour of telling misplaced jokes that leave little room for any more emotional reconciliation. A slight refinement may be necessary in the script and could have lent the film a wider amount of nuance with much of the dialogue feeling too basic, and more trust being given to its audience.

The subdued pacing also detracts with scenes of dialogue feeling at times minutes too long and slightly monotonous. This stems from a lack of narrative drive, sometimes detracting from its strengths. The 2nd act is largely static as we wait for narrative progression. The inciting incident gearing the brother’s reconciliation is not strong enough to fully justify the feature-length run-time.  [Potential spoiler] And sadly, one of the problem stems from the inclusion of a sci-fi twist, which appears rather too late - operating as a completely new short film itself, with its links to the prior narrative are weak.

However, overall Peakman’s low-budget directorial effort is a feat to be applauded. The execution of comedy is perhaps the most difficult to achieve in the cinema and Operation War Thunder delivers it consistently. Its slow pacing and dialogue can at times prevent full investment but the cinematic scope and charismatic leading performances ensure there is plenty for an audience to enjoy. And with its quirky visual trademarks, the film is a testament to the possibilities of low-budget filmmaking when creativity meets ingenuity, and experimentation is allowed.

★★★½

3.5 / 5

Josh Bird

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