As far as movies about true stories goes, this one leans more towards a very "Hollywood" adaptation. The tale of zookeeper's doing everything they can to help the Jews in Nazi controlled Warsaw, Poland, is already an incredible story in itself, but this movie version decided to add in all the typical plot tropes you would expect from a typical story about World War II. This can be grounds to complain about the film, but the straightforward and predictable nature of the story telling isn't completely bad. The movie just doesn't feel very inspired, what with it's use of cliches and plot conveniences, whenever there is a need to advance the story.
At least Jessica Chastain definitely knows how to work in front of the screen as Antonina Zabinski. Chastain gives her character a slight innocence to her personality as an animal lover, while still being able to display the strength of somebody who will do what is necessary to undermine the Nazis. The other cast like Daniel Bruhl and Johan Heldenbergh are also good in their roles, but this is really a story that's made for Jessica Chastain to shine. However, going back to the whole Hollywood effect of this story, most of the characters come off as typical archetypes, that doesn't lend itself to especially interesting dynamics.
Besides Jessica Chastain's presence, the simple reason to see this movie is just to see an adaptation of this incredible true story. The premise of the story is what will make you want to see the film all the way through until the end, despite all the make-believe content. Besides that fact, I can't deny that the more emotionally dramatic scenes are all very well done, and helps excuse the many liberties that this movie took with the real story.
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