Okay but not great retelling of the aftermath of the Munich Olympic tragedy

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2006)

This is a movie that looks and feels unlike any other Steven Spielberg film. Its a well made and mostly well acted story about the Israeli hit squad sent out to kill the plotters of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympics. The problem for me was that I was never emotionally engaged except when we see the recreation of the attack. I never really felt any connection to any of the Israeli agents taking revenge. A large part of the problem is that Eric Bana seems completely out of place in the film. He's much taller and much too good looking not to stand out in a crowd, which struck me as odd since he was chosen to lead the team in part because he didn't look Jewish. Bana also seemed to have only one expression through most of the movie and I wondered whether he was actually Buster Keaton in disguise. This isn't to say the film is a bad movie, its not, Its just not a particularly engaging one. For my money I would rather see the 1986 version of the same story The Sword of Gideon, or better yet the excellent documentary One Day in September again since at least I would actually feel some connection to the events rather than just an admiration for the film making skill.