Political Drama from Spielberg

Rating: 7/10 (19 February 2007)

"Munich' is a gripping drama about the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympic tragedy involving the death of Israeli athletes. I was not disappointed after watching the movie, but it certainly wasn't the best movie of Spielberg's career.
The story evolves around Avner (Eric Bana) who along with four other men are sent to eliminate the Palestinian culprits one by one.
At first I was hesitant that Spielberg would make the movie overly biased in favor of the Israeli perspective but I found that he did a delicate job of promoting his beliefs while never crossing the line of propaganda. There are scenes where there is Palestinian sympathy as well.
But the movie is more than just an Israel v Palestinian examination. It's about the path and development of Avner's character. From a naive, inexperience agent to a paranoid, political hit-man who begins to question the validity of his assignments and his role in the whole 'game.'
That to me was the strength of the movie, the character of Avner. However there was an ensemble cast which also carried the movie with excellence. Daniel Craig (Steve) played a great role as an aggressive Israeli hit-man, Geoffrey Rush (Ephraim) was wonderful as the Government officer relaying orders and the best surprise was Michael Lonsdale (Papa) as an engaging role of an informant providing information to any one who pays for it. These characters were tremendous additions which further strengthen the movie.
So why is this movie only rated a 7 and didn't win best picture for 2005. I believe the main reason is length. The movie is just too long. It runs at 2 hours and 44 minutes and doesn't need to be. The problem is the movie follows the group as they seek out 11 individuals one at a time. This means that there are 11 assignments and each assignments has their own ebb and flow, their own climax and downfall. However by the fifth or sixth assignment, the slow pace begins to get repetitive. I believed that this was the only weakness of the movie.
However despite its length, Spielberg created an enthralling story with some tremendous characters and that is what made the movie enjoyable.
7 out of 10 stars