A poorly executed movie.

Rating: Null/10 (23 January 2011)

Valkyrie is a movie based on the real life story of the "July 20 plot", as it is known, a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944. Headed by Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), a would be Nazi defector, the plot involved killing Hitler with a concealed bomb. When Hitler died, von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators planned to use the reserve German army to restore order to Germany and arrest the S.S. for staging a coup d'Ã©tat, which in actual fact was staged by them. The end result of all this, as they hoped, would be a truce with the Allies.
Sitting down to watch this, I felt very unsure as to whether I would enjoy it. I was conscious of the fact that the movie bases itself around a group of Nazi, and thus German, conspirators, yet most of the actors portraying them are American and English. Indeed, this did serve to take away from the authenticity of the film. I tried to get over it, but the fact of the matter is, when you cast Tom Cruise, who like it or not is an American icon, as your lead Nazi in a movie about Nazis, you're going to find it very difficult to convince your audience that this movie is entirely serious. It just doesn't work.
But even disregarding that, this movie suffers from many issues. It is probably one of the most average movies I have come across in my time, from script, to acting, to directing. There's no flair here. The movie takes forty minutes to get going at all, and when it does, you don't really care. It becomes so concerned with explaining exactly what is happening and what is going to happen in a moment with inanely dumbed-down, plain English that there is zero room left for character development. From when to movie starts to when the movie ends, you learn nothing about von Stauffenberg or who he really was.
Tom Cruise's acting doesn't help this either. He's incredibly unemotional and uninviting as a character, particularly for someone who feels so strongly about over throwing the Nazis. I'd go as far to say he looked uncomfortable in the role. On the day the bombing is to take place, roughly half way through the movie a conspirator, Colonel General Ludwig Beck , declares it "the most important day of your lives". Even if it was, it's difficult feel roused or excited, as I felt no real connection to any of these characters, particularly Cruises.
As I was watching, it became more and more obvious to me what was wrong with the film as a whole. It was made as a thriller. That is, it's designed to be fast moving, tense, suspenseful and all of that. Such an interesting story, in my opinion, should not have been ripped apart and dumbed down for Hollywood audiences. Rather, I feel if this story of von Stauffenberg's attempt to kill Hitler was made, firstly with German actors, but also as a drama, with significant character development, and less emphasis on building suspense. It would have been wonderful. The suspense would have come naturally. This film just doesn't do the story justice.
If you want some decent, dramatic, and indeed thrilling films about World War II, stick to The Hurt Locker, Saving Private Ryan, and most importantly Band of Brothers.