A captivating and interesting spin on the World War II story and Hitler himself

Rating: 8/10 (26 January 2009)

Leave it up to the recently controversial Tom Cruise to find a film that people can bicker and argue and get all bunched up about. As usual most of the complaints about the film are ludicrous. "Supporting Nazis." "Painting Nazis in a good light." "Actors make ridiculous Nazis." Valkyrie is the furthest thing from all these things. Instead it is actually a very mainstream film, part drama, part action by a very mainstream director telling a story from a very different perspective. World War II films are a dime a dozen but there are few if any films from the Nazi perspective about an internal plot to kill Hitler which history shows us happened a lot. That means that there were some Nazis, Germans, soldiers, whatever you want to call them that did want to kill Hitler. The film packs in intensity and action and special effects and some decent, solid performances to make a very entertaining film. The reason you're not seeing it sweep any award shows is that Valkyrie tries less to be true to history or emotionally binding then it does to be mainstream entertainment which means when watching it the viewer should be taking it with a grain of salt, not looking for historical inconsistencies or how bad someone's German accent is or isn't.
Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise plays the lead role of a disenchanted German soldier. I don't care about Cruise's personal life, I have always thought he was a great actor, with great Hollywood charm. Cruise lights up the screen and looks great with his ominous eye patch and dark coats and Nazi hats. He commands presence on screen. Bill Nighy was okay if his character was meant to be quiet and withdrawn and kind of weak willed. He does alright but certainly his character and his performance doesn't command much of anything. Tom Wilkinson does a great job as the loud and bulbous Friedrich Fromm. He doesn't have a big role but he does well in the part. David Bamber is terrific and does a great job as the evil man himself Herr Adolf Hitler. Hitler is a mysterious character and somehow they make him look like a celebrity of sorts among his men and his presence and everything about him shows his charisma and his nature and Bamber is brilliant in the role. He really does bring something to the subtle but powerful role.
Director Bryan Singer is the exact definition of a mainstream director having headed up action films for a lot of years. So what could he bring to Valkyrie? Well I think the film is more friendly to the average film goer who is going to be entertained about a piece of war history even if it's not the most accurate docu-drama out there. Singer wants to tell a story, but still blow things up and show off some Hollywood stars and despite some of the content surrounding Valkyrie if you go into the film as a piece of entertainment then you will be entertained and if you have insatiable curiosity like me you will look into the more truthful stories behind the assassination attempts on Hitler. Doesn't matter what you think about the content Valkyrie is an entertaining movie that one can enjoy for it's face value and Cruise is great in it. 8/10