The Imitation Game — Benedict Cumberbatch impresses in WWII drama

The Imitation GameBradley Burgess | rawr reviews

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is on fire right now.

From reinventing the legendary villain Khan in “Star Trek: Into Darkness” to starring as Julian Assange in the controversial biopic “The Fifth Estate,” not to mention his recent casting in Marvel’s “Doctor Strange,” the guy  doesn’t quit.

But of all these talked about roles, the one he’ll be remembered for in 20 years is “The Imitation Game,” a true story and one of 2014’s best films.

The film is set in World War II, and the Nazis are using a device called Enigma to scramble communications. British forces, led by MI6 the British equivalent of the FBI, are attempting to break the code, a seemingly impossible task as the code resets every 24 hours, leaving the world’s best mathematicians with billions of possible solutions.

Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing, a brilliant but socially inept professor who joins MI6 to crack the code. With the help of fellow mathematicians, including Keira Knightley’s character, Joan Clark, Turing constructs a machine designed to calculate Enigma’s possibilities and crack the code.

With a true story not everyone is familiar with, the film’s storyline is quite compelling. Unlike “Fury,” which showed the more graphic side of the war, “The Imitation Game” plays war themes much more subtly.

The characters in the film aren’t soldiers, so they don’t experience the worst of the war, but the film never loses sight of the looming threat the characters face. As the film progresses, viewers want them to succeed in their mission.

The majority of the film focuses on Turing and the true effort he went through to help his country. Cumberbatch is nothing short of breathtaking in the role, portraying every line truthfully as he sinks into the misunderstood character.

Turing had a secret he hid from the public, which I won’t ruin here, and the film could’ve  easily mistreated the hot button topics they address. Fortunately, the filmmakers did tread carefully and avoid cliché while being truthful to history and Turing’s story.

“The Imitation Game” is a masterful film that appeals to both moviegoers, history buffs and underdogs. It’s a true testament to Turing, as well as anyone who has felt like an outsider. If a film can leave an audience inspired and impacted like this one does, it’s doing something right.

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