Many saw evil, they dared to stop it. At the height of WW2, a group of high-ranking German officers hatched a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and seize power of the military command in order to end the war. The operation was codenamed "Valkyrie", for the emergency plan that was meant to be used in case of a revolt against the Nazi government. These men sacrificed their lives for their failure, but they were some of the few who would not let the road to damnation be paved with apathy.
Say what you will about Superman Returns, but Bryan Singer is a good director, the man knows how to craft a fine film. And yeah, so what if Tom Cruise has been using the same intense face for his past several films and coasting mostly on his celebrity, he's pretty good in in this movie. Oh and the supporting cast, it's totally awesome. Eddie Izzard flexing his dramatic muscle, Terrence Stamp being Terrence Stamp, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, and Tom Wilkinson. It's an all star cast of conflicting accents, but it works. This is the same team behind the camera and script as The Usual Suspects, so despite the negative buzz preceding this film, rest assured it's good stuff. The pacing is perfect, as the films run time breezes by in a flash. The acting is across the board solid, the direction and everything else that went into making this thing is also top notch. It's tense, suspence packed fun, and you'd be hard pressed to find much fault with it, pending you have no Tom Cruise hang-ups. Now, I wouldn't go saying this bad boy is going to be bringing home any hardware come February, but it is one of the shining lights this Christmas's releases, something worthwhile if you don't feel like sitting through another Adam Sandler comedy or a bad Owen Wilson flick.
So yeah, Tom Cruise uses his regular accent, and so what if you already know the ending, (Spoiler Alert! Hitler lives!), it's a well acted, enlightening piece of filmmaking and I'd encourage interested parties to see it. Most folks are relegated to the idea that all German's during this period in history were all Nazi's or Nazi supporters, and this film lets us know that not only were there German's who were anti-Hitler, but also German's who were so adamantly against him that they laid down the ultimate sacrifice for their beliefs. So get over your preconceptions and give this one a chance.
Reviewed by: Greg MacLennan
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