An excellent World War II movie

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2001)

Enemy at the Gates is an excellent WW II movie in which I found few weaknesses. Jude Law really makes the movie great with his excellent portrayal (in tone, facial expressions, and other body languages) of the innocent shepherd boy thrust suddenly into manhood through brutal war, and later the uneasy hero of Russia's propaganda machine.
We are told this is based on a true story. I am not a huge war buff so I don't know how accurate the events depicted are historically, but I was very impressed with the atmosphere created by director Annaud (Seven Years in Tibet) through the use of crumbled concrete landscapes, wonderful music, and earthy tone colors. This movie is full of stark and powerful images. Some of the highlights include the opening war sequence: Only one rifle per 2 men and the Russian commander yelling "When the man with the rifle dies, pick up the rifle and shoot!" Young wide-eyed youths getting herded like cattle to the front lines to die, the Russians turning their guns on the deserters...All very powerful and interesting images!

Ed Harris does a nice job as the stoic and seemingly invincible antagonist. I was hoping we would get a more over-the-top performance from Ed (similar to other great performances "The Abyss" & "The Rock") but his quiet, silent, and deadly portrayal as the Nazi top sniper works just as well. I was happy to see Bob Hoskins and Ron Perlman give great supporting performances!

Joesph Fiennes also put in another good performance as the political officer running the Russian political machine. Unfortunately, the love triangle felt a bit lackluster and tacked-on. Rachel Weisz's character felt like a silly cliche. The plot could have done without the love interest aspect. The main characters and action were interesting enough without it. The happy "love" ending really disappointed me as I felt it detracted from the strength of the film's otherwise strong messages/images about war and death.

FINAL RATING: 8/10 Despite suffering from the Hollywood mainstream "must have love subplot" and "must have happy-ending" syndromes that ruin many good plot ideas, this movie still is excellent with its believable and interesting plot, excellent production values, stark and powerful visuals, and generally excellent cast that give excellent performances. It was also refreshing to see a WW II movie that tackled the great war from a new aspect (i.e. sniper view). Fans of all types of movies should enjoy.