VALKYRIE (2008)

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"Bryan Singers best since The Usual Suspects. "

Before I begin the review of Valkyrie, the air needs to be cleared about something. Recently a few critics have given Valkyrie a less then flattering review. Now although they are entitled to their opinion, they should have thought long and hard about letting personal biased interject with their artistic integrity. Tom Cruise is not my favorite human being...his outspoken opinions of late has certainly tarnished his lustrous acting career. All that being said, I still believe he is one of the greatest actors of our time. His performances in Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, and An Interview With a Vampire sold me on his ability as an actor. I am certainly comfortable enough as an avid fan of film to give an unbiased opinion based on its content. Now that I got that out of the way, how does Valkyrie measure up? Any time a film covers the very touchy portion of history known as the Nazi era, you can almost guarantee it misses the mark in one way or another. The only film to date that portrayed Nazi Germany and the populace of that nation almost completely accurate was Schindler's List. You can now add Valkyrie to that short list. In films where any Nazi is portrayed they are usually a stereotype, and always the villain (for good reason I suppose), but what most don't realize is that many Germans quietly resisted, and were sickened by the shame of the crimes to humanity their vicious furor carried out. They saw his crimes as theirs, and the blood of his war was on their hands. There were 15 plots from within the third Reich to kill Hitler and bring down Nazi Germany. Valkyrie is the story about the last of those 15, and the most successful to be carried out. The pacing of Valkyrie, the tension and realism...is all thanks to director Brian Singer. Singer has brought us amazing films like The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Apt Pupil and the more recent Superman Returns. Valkyrie although an unusual choice for Singer, was handled well by the director, and his trademark stylish pacing was perfect for the ominous build up that was this story. Valkyrie is dark of course, but it focuses solely on Cruise's character Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and only briefly makes mention of the concentration camp horrors. I believe this is a wise choice because it allows the viewer to see the war from the perspective of Claus, and you learn his hearts intent, and know of his true hatred for Hitler.It starts with his command in Africa (which resulted in an attack that left him marred and disfigured) and then leads us to the events that resulted in his involvement as the mastermind of the Valkyrie Plot. Cruise turns in a truly exceptional performance, and he is backed up by an amazing supporting cast to include Shakespearian Thespian Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson as General Fromm, and a surprisingly good showing by Bill Nighy. Another central character is Hitler himself, who was played by an unknown with hauntingly effective results. Singer pulls no punches with the portrayal of Hitler; he is the absolute vision of evil. He doesn't get much screen time in Valkyrie, but has enough to convey an insane, paranoid and completely devoted demon. The outcome of the plot is a historically obvious one, but knowing that should only heighten your want to learn about how close they really got. This film is accurate and concise. It has recently taken flack for not having the German characters speaking their native dialect, all I can say is that there is a nice transition piece in the beginning that I believe made more sense for this film...the lines in Valkyrie needed to be executed with extreme care and with visible emotional content, director Singer was wise enough to know the same lines being delivered in German by English speaking actors just wouldn't have packed enough punch. This film will go down as a truly great war epic, and will hopefully incite some of its viewers to take a closer look at this dark chapter in humanities history. Singer shows us with Valkyrie that sometimes men put their love of man, country, and honor... first before the lives of their families and even themselves. He shows us that in history words like "treason" and "traitor" can sometimes be the description of humanities greatest hero's. See this film, and know that some stood up from within, and did all they could.