'Enemy At The Gates' (2001)

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2012)

'Enemy At The Gates' is one of those rare movies where the film sort of tricks the audience into believing that it is better than it actually is. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the film, or that I wasn't entertained, because that is not the case. 'Enemy At The Gates' somehow works, in part because of the cat and mouse game that Jude Law and Ed Harris are involved in, is not typical World War II movie fare. The opening sequence is blatantly ripping off 'Saving Private Ryan' in such a way that one shot might almost be identical, and then Joseph Fiennes and Jude Law are conveniently thrown together and their friendship, like their characters, are left mostly undeveloped. The very beginning gives us a very vague glimpse at Jude Law's character as a child, but that is it. Everything else, the dialogue, the "love triangle" if you could even call it that because Joseph Fiennes is pretty much left out of it, and the little boy with connecting ties to both Soviets and Nazis, all just feel like plot devices to get the movie done and over with, and on to the third act.
However, none of this is to say that I'm not entertaining by this, and I have definitely seen 'Enemy At The Gates' more than a couple times. I enjoy Ron Perlman's small role a little bit, and Bob Hoskins is always a pleasure to watch no matter what the hell is going on, and Jude Law and Ed Harris play off one another well; they do not actually see each other until the very ending. Overall, an enjoyable film, but I am disappointed that it feels very half-baked and that some characters were cheated out of some real character development.
ENEMY AT THE GATES -----7/10.