Munich (2005)

Rating: 10/10 (31 October 2006)

" Its strange, isn't it? To think of oneself as an assassin?" One of my favorite movies from 05. The public massacre of Israeli athletes spurs Israel's relentless intelligence agent, Mossad, into action. While the world reels from seeing the '72 Olympics marred by murder, the agency orders Avner ( played masterfully by Eric Bana) to retaliate against the Palestinians responsible.
Under the long-distance commander of government agent Ephraim ( Geoffrey Rush), five diverse operatives form an unconventional counter-terrorism team, in which they set out to track and kill their pray. As the men grow to realize they are enmeshed in a morally and politically complex story, they begin to question their roles.... only to find that no answers are there.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film is a little too long, and I could see how a someone could simply turn it off...... but, for me- it feels very efficient, and absorbing. There were really only two scenes, I thought were ridiculous, the first one was the contrived meeting with the PLO terrorists in the same safe house and the second were the lame sex scenes, that I could have done without.
But, for me: The film's most exciting moments are in the details of assassinations. The bomb at the hotel, with the newlyweds and the very own target right next door to Avner.... the first assassination, the Hitchcockian suspense surrounding the little girl answering the phone, when she is not supposed to be there, the commando night raid, the killing of the Dutch Assassin. However, my all time favorite scene of the film- takes place in the rain soaked London, where Avner and his team are trailing one of their targets, and they are assaulted by a bunch of Americans- who turn out to be CIA, protecting their 'asset.' Current 007 himself, Daniel Craig's performance as the most gung ho of the group, leaves you wondering what he's got in store for the Bond Franchise as well.