A Great Cast Drives This Excellent Thriller

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2009)

This is an enjoyable movie. It isn't quite as different as The Usual Suspects but it's still an intriguing film. The German channel ZDF summed it up well: Valkyrie is "neither scandalously bad nor the event of the century...Neither is it the action thriller we feared, but it is a well-made and serious film."
The story is suspenseful, filled with tension to keep you glued to it. It isn't bogged down with pointless side stories to add needless drama. "Will he do it for the world or will he chicken out to be with his family?" There's already enough going on with just trying to get it all planned out and get everyone on board. The movie's like the characters, know what needs to be done and just goes for it. And I liked that they didn't delve into every character's back story and reason for trying to kill Hitler. It's 2008/09. We know there's plenty of reasons for people to kill the man. Besides, that would have just added twenty to thirty minutes of dialog and exposition just to say that Hitler is bad.
This proved to be a great role for Tom Cruise. For once he doesn't just break out in a run for some random reason trying to be an action star. Here he goes back to what he's good at, like his older roles in A Few Good Men or Rain Man. He's a good actor but not when he's running around. Maybe we can finally forget about him on the couch and think of his acting.
The rest of the cast works perfectly. Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, and the ever lovable Terence Stamp are all in top form. There doesn't seem to be a single person who could be replaced with someone better.
The production values are great, certainly nothing is done half-hearted. Everything looks amazing and is well done, the kind of touch Bryan Singer brings. I like all of Singer's movies. Usual Suspects, X-Men 1 & 2, and even Superman Returns. He's no Christopher Nolan or Steven Spielberg but he's still a fine director.
My only real problem with the movie is I wish there was some extra punch to it. This is a real historical account. Therefore we already know how it ends. Anyone who would see this movie should have enough education from grade school to know that this plot didn't kill Hitler. This is the problem that faced the Star Wars prequel trilogy. How to make it engaging when the audience knows the ending. He did a good job but I feel he could have gone further. Maybe Singer should have taken a page from Nolan's book and made it non-linear. Perhaps played up the suspense of Hitler trying to communicate before the plotters succeeded. Or something a little more that would have pushed it from a good movie to great one.
It's an exciting thriller that I recommend to everyone. It showcases not only an important event but one of the best parts of humanity. The plotters weren't saints but normal, average human beings trying to be good. They stood up in the midst of insurmountable odds to do what is right. And the fact that it was all true made it all the more touching.
And in the end it did what all movies should aspire to do: I left wanting to see it again.