Cruise's performance only minor setback

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2009)

First off, it is important to not go and judge this movie by the poor reviews of Tom Cruise's lack of German accent. Had he donned an accent, it would have been rather difficult to take him serious as a leading person in a plot to murder one of history's greatest villains. It would have distracted from an otherwise decent acting performance.
As well, going into the movie I expected an action-packed thriller but the pacing made up for lack of prolonged action. It was a nice change of theme to a war movie, as it dealt with the story of the Germans, not the Allies.
The side-roles were extremely well cast. I recognized several great German actors such as Christian Berkel, who gave a great performance as Quirnheim. Bernhard Hill's cameo was also enjoyable, especially for those VERY familiar with Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (one line may sound familiar).
Overall, Valkyrie was a great movie about politics, courage, and the power of the people. Much better than i had anticipated.