The Tom Cruise eye patch movie

Rating: 7/10 (11 May 2014)

This film was ridiculed throughout its production, from the casting and lack of German accents to Cruise's eye patch - Valkyrie was to be the quick death of the rebooted MGM. A big budget disaster, that would destroy even more what Lions for Lambs did to MGM. Pulling in $200m worldwide, the film was successful enough in the box office and wasn't the critical disaster that many expected (or hoped for), though it hardly received love from critics. The film is a tight old fashioned thriller, with strong direction from Bryan Singer and a nice pulpy, no fat screenplay that doesn't waste a moment on the plot to kill Hitler. It's a quick history lesson with the framework of a thriller. So while the film is all surface and doesn't go deep, that's hardly a criticism and there's much to recommend here. Cruise is adequate, but it's the machinations of the plan that when put in action are nothing short of entertaining to watch - even though you know how it will end.