While Salturn may have divided opinion right down the middle, one thing most critics could agree on was Barry Keoghan’s leading performance in the film.
And his latest on-screen venture has proved just as popular.
The Irish actor has been singled out for praise in his new war drama Masters Of The Air, which co-stars Austin Butler, Callum Taylor and a host of other familiar faces.
Debuting on Friday, the Apple TV+ ministers centres around a group of pilots during World War II, with critics having heaping praise on the new show, which serves as a companion to 2001’s Band Of Brothers.
Here’s a selection of the reviews so far…
The Guardian (5/5)
“It is grand, traditional television, reaching for the big moments in every scene. It is bombastic, but earns it. Every time a line such as: ‘The formation’s a mess’, or: ‘We’ve got a long road ahead of us’, or: ‘Let’s rack ’em up and knock ’em down’ appears, you are right there with them, waiting to count the number of planes that make it back to the runway.”
Radio Times (5/5)
“It is one of finest, most jaw-dropping dramas you are likely to see in a very long time [...] Masters of the Air is not only gorgeous to look at, with astonishing production value, it also utilises a combination of practical and digital effects to create some of the most spectacular, horrifying aerial fight sequences seen in any medium – film or TV.”
Telegraph (5/5)
“It doesn’t take long for Masters Of The Air to get going, and when it does: holy hell. If you have seen Band Of Brothers, for which this is a companion piece, you’ll be braced for action. But the intensity of the aerial combat scenes featured here will take your breath away.”
Empire (5/5)
“Some minor quibbles aside, this is another blockbuster TV smash: a dazzlingly vital history lesson that summons the best tension, drama and emotion of Band Of Brothers.”
NME (5/5)
“The misty-eyed, cinematic sheen comes straight from producer Steven Spielberg, bathing every hero shot in holy light – and lending the extraordinary aerial action scenes the kind of weight (and budget) that wins Oscars.
“But maybe it’s the casting director who deserves the credit here, assembling what feels like the class of ’24 in Butler, Turner and Keoghan, plus rising stars Darragh Cowley, Anthony Boyle, Branden Cook, Nate Mann and more.”
The Independent (4/5)
“With Butler and Turner in the captain seats, the company is rounded out by an ensemble cast of familiar faces. Red hot Irish actor Barry Keoghan plays against type as a nice, affable bloke, Kurt, who proves too sweet for his own good, while Anthony Boyle [plays] a navigator struggling to find his wings [...] the ensemble pulls together beautifully, acquiring the neat, mechanised hum of a B-17 engine.”
“Oscar nominees Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan lend supercharged charisma as cool-as-ice pilots [...] But it’s English actor Callum Turner who steals the show [...] Watch him and you’ll feel the true soul of this stirring but realistically melancholy epic.”
Evening Standard (4/5)
“Butler, Turner, Keoghan and the rest are all excellent. However, it would be more satisfying if they had been given more than two dimensions of a character to play [...] Small gripes aside, this is still a highly watchable tribute to a group of airmen who, every time they stepped into a plane, knew they had one foot at death’s door. All praise to them.”
Metro (4.5/5)
“Keoghan, after a slightly questionable Liverpudlian accent for Saltburn, fares better with broad New York tones as Lt. Curtis Biddick, who talks the talk and punches the punch. Gregarious, friendly and full of rizz (as the kids say), he’s the archetype of the ever-chipper colleague who you know has always got your back – especially when the proverbial hits the propeller, which it almost always does for the Hundredth.”
Financial Times (3/5)
“[Band Of Brothers’] legacy is complemented here by a voguish cast led by Elvis’s Austin Butler, rising star Callum Turner and the ever-electric Barry Keoghan [...] Masters Of The Air might not save TV single-handedly, but it is still a rousing testament to the real heroism of the Bloody Hundredth.”
“The cast and production value here are second to none, albeit with not enough Barry Keoghan for the Saltburn stans and scarce Ncuti Gatwa too. You just end up wishing they could have all been in something else.”
The first two episodes of Masters Of The Air arrive on Apple TV+ on Friday, with new instalments following weekly.