This movie would be great if the characters would get in character.

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2002)

Based on a true story, `Enemy at the Gates' has everything you'd want in a good war movie: great action sequences, great sets, great costumes, and an intriguing story. It's about a Russian soldier named Vasily Zaitsev (Jude Law from `The Talented Mr. Ripley') with incredible shooting skills who manages to pick off many German officers and becomes a hero, courtesy of a Russian officer, Danilov (Joseph Fiennes from `Shakespeare In Love'), who seizes the opportunity to raise morale of the Russian army by printing elaborate stories about Zaitsev's daily conquests. Meanwhile, both soldiers fall for a beautiful Russian girl named Tania (Rachel Weisz from `The Mummy'), which causes a bit of friction between them. The Germans then bring in their best sharpshooter, Major Konig (Ed Harris of `Apollo 13'), which starts a game of cat and mouse through a war-torn city that can only end when one of them dies. Sounds pretty interesting, doesn't it? Director Jean-Jacques Annaud (`Seven Years in Tibet') definitely sat through `Saving Private Ryan' a few times and picked up the right elements of mood, war carnage, and good timing of the action sequences. So what's wrong with it, you ask? Imagine the Russian soldiers had thick British accents and the Nazi sharpshooter had an obviously American accent. Would you still buy it? Probably not. While it seems like a small detail, it really gets in the way of the believability of the characters. While all four of the main characters are fantastic actors, you would think they would be able to pull off an accent that suits their character. Besides a slightly hokey ending and the bad accents, this is a really enjoyable film. So, if you'd just like to sit back, let your eyes glaze over, and watch things blow up like any other action film, you'll like it. But be warned, it can get a little confusing if you can't figure out whose side the characters are on.