This just in: some Germans hated trench warfare, too. I know. I know. Hard to believe, huh? Well, why did you do it then?! We absolutely take for granted that 20th century Teutons were bloodthirsty monsters, but that isn’t necessarily true or fair … or at least no more so than stating “all MAGA folks want fascism.” Surely, not ALL MAGA want fascism; surely two or three percent prefer fair elections, right?
Yet, here we are in 1917, long before anyone in the world cared about the name “Adolf Hitler” and the origins of a terrible war three years old are already long forgotten. All that remains is the logistics, which in France includes long lines of trenches and sometimes at night, it is All Quiet on the Western Front. We’re used to seeing the perspective from the Western side in films like They Shall Not Grow Old, Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, and Tolkien. Now imagine what trenches feel like to the group that lost WWI, huh?
For a bit, it looked like All Quiet on the Western Front (the 2022 version at least) seemed like the German answer to 1917 – we follow the perspective of teenage solider Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) as the horrors of war explode around him. Perhaps we will see Pvt. Bäumer wander over enemy lines in one continuous shot for two hours … no? Aw.
Paul Bäumer has joined the war late. It started in 2014 and by 2017, the Americans were involved and Germany was not getting the better end of it … not that such filtered down to do the students. Paul and his classmates have bought into nationalism like so many unfortunate young pawns of history. One of the sad and premature (IMO) parts of this film is how quickly idealistic young Germans go from “RAH! RAH!” to “this isn’t what I signed up for.” Fewer than thirty minutes of runtime happen before Paul already encounters a terrifying deathtrap and loses a treasured friend in the raid.
I think this gives away the game too early. The original All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) is a classic almost entirely because of how subtly the hero comes to realize the futility and evil of war. This version is less like the original – “war sucks” is a theme throughout- but feels more like it wanted to be another Saving Private Ryan. The film follows a select group of soldier/friends who fight their war in France while the group 
gets smaller and smaller, cuz … war. There is no scene in All Quiet on the Western Front that compares, or –quite frankly- can compare to the opening of Saving Private Ryan. Instead writer/director Edward Berger went for impactful deaths, ones that will open your eyes and make you gawk aloud.
Not until Paul Bäumer kills a man late-ish in the film and feels massive regret as a result did I truly start sympathizing with the kid; this long delay is another reason why All Quiet on the Western Front compares unfavorably to Saving Private Ryan. However, the film is an adult, masterfully shot, and occasionally riveting look at war. There are plenty of war films that don’t quite measure up to Saving Private Ryan and while this is one of them, it may well be the best war film of 2022 all the same.
As of this writing, All Quiet on the Western Front has just been nominated for Best Picture. I wouldn’t have voted for it myself, but in the ultimate year of overrated film, I’m not going to group this one among the ridiculously overrated: Tar, The Fabelmans, Avatar 2, Triangle of Sadness or any of the other “what were you thinking?!” elevations of mediocrity that Oscar voters have chosen. All Quiet on the Western Front isn’t quite the classic of its 1930 progenitor, but it is a solid anti-war film with at least three very memorable death scenes. And what more do you want from a war film?
There’s this German kid enamored of war
Couldn’t wait to make a Teutonic score
He found out instead
That his friends were all dead
Makes you wonder exactly what he’s fighting for
Rated R, 148 Minutes
Director: Edward Berger
Writer: Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell
Genre: War sucks
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Disillusioned warriors
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: General Patton
