A great thriller, let down by Spielberg's love of unnecessary nudity.

Rating: 9/10 (6 November 2006)

Munich was probably one of the best films of 2005 - though it may not have made huge box office grosses, the film itself was honest, powerful, moving, and shocking in parts, with a lot of character and humanity. All of the characters had human sides to them, and we really got to understand and feel for their struggles as the film progressed. It didn't pass on the gore, and when we see the athletes actually getting murdered about 25 minutes in, it is one of the most gruesome and heart-rending things transferred to film. Spiffing. Steven Spielberg has made this film for his religion, and to show us that we are fighting the same sort of things these days. This film was not made to make a load of money - it was made for a purpose, and served that purpose well.
Munich should have got ten stars, but once again, Steven Spielberg's love of nudity has brought him off the perfect mark. In Schindler's List, the nudity was necessary, but in this film, it really was plainly there for the purpose of letting Spielberg have bums on show once again. I've always respected Spielberg's talents as a director - nothing is too far for him. But the murder of the naked woman about two hours into the film is just disgusting - definitely not for family viewing. Avner and his wife's times in bed should not have been seen on this film, and though he was a rich, humane character, we really don't want to know what happens behind closed doors - even though his wife played quite a significant role in the story. The ending was the main problem - hugely powerful and artistic scenes intercut with shots of Avner heartily rogering his wife. Definite thumbs-down. Shame, really, as this film was top-hole - it was more than just a rubbish family film with talking animals, which frequent cinemas these days. But Steven Spielberg has to get this into his mind - the actors don't have to be "au naturel" to get you any Oscars and grip the audience, especially in a film like this.
I hugely enjoyed Munich, but it unfortunately isn't Spielberg's best - Saving Private Ryan is the best. And as long as he wants the whole world to see actors in the nude, his films won't be perfect in my eye. On the whole - Munich is a powerful, well-written film, that is only let down by one thing. A stunning job! 9/10