Valkyrie

Valkyrie is a film that has enough suspense and enough cool actors at the helm to make for an interesting 2 hours at the theater, but it wasn’t a film that blew me away by any means. The film is based on a true story of Nazi officers who grew tired of Hitler and his murderous ways, and who make an effort to kill him in the late stages of WWII. The story revolves around Cruise’s character, a German Colonel, who leads this valiant effort to take Hitler out of power. Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson and the rest of the cast are all good here, as expected, and David Bamber in his smaller role as Hitler also is effective, but then again maybe just the site of Hitler, no mater who the actor is, demands your attention. The film is a mix between a history lesson and a suspense, with bits of action thrown in every so often. Director Bryan Singer keeps things moving along at a good pace, with mostly all relevant scenes and interesting dialogue. I didn’t find myself bored at all through the runtime. The movie works more as a suspense thriller, however, so don’t go in expecting an action film. There are plenty of moments of tension, especially when the plan gets kicked into gear, all of which create a false hope that maybe, just maybe, Hitler could just die this time around!

Things that bothered me a bit were the amount of characters in the film, so many in fact that it is hard to care for any one more than the other. But then again, you need a lot of people helping each other kill a dude like Hitler. Some of the true reasons, besides the obvious (which are common knowledge now of course) why the characters grew so tired of Hitler are never really covered (these people are all suppose to be on Hitler’s side). We know now why he needed to be taken out, but what changed these loyal officers’ minds so quickly? Other questions, like how Hitler survived, also aren’t answered.

A film full of interesting dilemmas and plenty of suspense, that is definitely worth checking out at some point. I would, however, recommend this on DVD, and not as a night out at the theater, which ultimately has everything to do with the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of action in the film, nor does it leave all that lasting of an impression, so why bother on the big screen? It’s a decent flick, but just nothing that left me emotionally charged or surprised.