Only Average At Best

Rating: 5/10 (25 December 2008)

The very high profile cast of this film notwithstanding, I'm afraid that "Valkyrie" has all the gravitas of a made-for-TV movie. How some of the top names in British and continental cinema got roped into accepting parts in this film I will never understand - unless it was a matter of money, of course. Especially disappointing is the practically non-existent parts for actresses Carice van Houten and Halina Reijn. What a waste of two talented actresses. And as for the actor who played Hitler, all I can say is that after the phenomenal performance of Austrian Actor Bruno Ganz as Hitler in the film "The Downfall" no other actor should ever be allowed to play the Fuhrer.
The plot of the film certainly has some large holes in it, too. The very idea that German Army colonels were ordering around various German generals seems pretty far fetched.
Finally, of course, there's Tom Cruise playing Colonel Stauffenberg. Cruise brings nothing special to the role. If the makers of this movie were at all serious in the subject matter they should have chosen a different actor to play the role. Cruise is just too lightweight to carry off such an important role.
The highlights of the film were the tri-motor aircraft at the beginning, and the very good musical score played at the ending credits. Everything in between was neither here nor there.