Valkyrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp
Dir: Bryan Singer
Rating: 3/5
Valkyrie is just one of a string of war movies that have been released in recent months, following in the footsteps of Defiance and The Reader.
It is 1943, and though he has come to be disgusted by Hitler's campaign of evil, Count Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) has risen to the level of lieutenant colonel in the German army.
Convinced that Hitler must die, Von Stauffenberg requests a transfer to Tunisia, where he loses his left eye and right hand during an Allied air raid.
Falling in with a group of similarly disillusioned officers including Major General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh), General Friedrich Olbricht (Nighy), General Friedrich Fromm (Wilkinson), and Colonel General Ludwig Beck (Stamp), Stauffenberg is at the centre of several attempts on Der Fuhrer's life, culminating in a bombing that kills a handful of his officers and leaves Hitler only slightly injured.
The problem with Valkyrie is this it just feels like a well oiled cog in the big war movies of Hollywood not one of the most important and dangerous missions of the Second World War.
This movie does bring home the message that not all Germans were comfortable with Hitler's regime but this astonishing true story has been flattened and made ordinary, It should have been a fast paced and exciting political thriller but it lacks any sort of pace and purpose.
Visually the movie is excellent as Singer has produced a very crisp and stylish movie and don't get me wrong at times it is a very compelling story but it just lacks that umph that would have made it great.
And while the like of Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy all turn in very good performances Valkyrie lacks characterisation we don't get to know these men that put so much on the line.
Having said that you really have to question the casting of Tom Cruise, now I admit that I'm not much of a fan, but he just doesn't have the acting depth and range to make his character resonate with the audience.
But towards the end of the movie the pace quickens and there is a sense of urgency and excitement that Hitler's reign of horror could be over. And the ending is truly shocking!
While this isn't a poor movie by any stretch of the imagination if Singer had just dared to push the boundaries a little bit more it would have been more than a safe war movie. A solid piece of work though from everyone involved.
Valkyrie is out on DVD now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Tom Cruise