Fast paced and gritty, though rushed at times

Rating: 9/10 (10 July 2006)

Akin to spy films, only without the spies, Munich is a gripping emotional film that takes you too the edge of your seat and to the brink of tears.
Following the slaughter of 11 Israeli athletes by a group of Palestinians at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, a group of Israelis is then contracted to hunt down and kill the organizers of the event.
Violence begetting violence and the futility of it all is the major theme that Steven Spielberg wants you to take away from it all. Throughout the film the replacements for the people they kill are mentioned, even going so far as to kill one of those replacements. You'd think that with the message so clearly spelled out, the movie would be an insult to the intelligence of the movie going public (though I guess that depends on what you think of the intelligence of the movie going public). But it's not. The message is so simple, so obvious, that it would be an insult if the characters DIDN'T know it and state it.
Eric Bana proves his talent by masterfully portraying Arven, the man put in charge of the Israeli hit group. He is torn between doing a job and getting revenge and perpetuating the violence. He doesn't want to spend all that time away from his pregnant wife, which is a Spielberg trademark, the issue of fatherhood. Seriously, look at his films, it's an issue all the time, distant, absent or neglectful fathers, or men not wanting to be fathers, or some kind of father issue. It was an interesting way to present that sub-plot.
The supporting cast was wonderful, including Brit and new James Bond Daniel Craig, and Bana's fellow Aussie Geoffrey Rush, all of the men wrestling with several issues concerning their assigned task.
The real star of the picture though is Steven Spielberg. It's his most un-Spielberg film to date. I honestly thought it was a Ridley or Tony Scott film at times. That's a sign of a true craftsman. You know his films when you see them. Indiana Jones, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, E.T., Saving Private Ryan you can look at them all and say "That's a Spielberg film." And here we are, thirty years after his debut with Jaws and he's disappeared into his film.
The only real downside I could see in this film was that it was a rushed film and you could see that at some points. Spielberg has constructed two massive films in a little over a year. He started War of the Worlds in August of 2004, and it was ready by the following June. He immediately started on Munich and had that mostly done by the end of November. But there were some noticeable continuity mistakes. And I say noticeable because I rarely notice them, because I'm not looking for them. But there are a few, showing that the editing process was rushed.