The popular director of the X-Men series and Superman Returns, Bryan Singer plunged into the world of historical thriller/ dramas in his latest directorial piece Valkyrie which depicts one of the many notable German attempts on Nazi Leader, Adolf Hitler’s life. The film focuses on Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg one of the key conspirators who wanted to use Hitler’s Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take over the state and come to a truce with the overwhelming allied forces.
A group of Nazi officers well connected within the ruling Nazi regime and its forces grow tired of Hitler’s policies and the brutality of the war and seek a means of which they can regain control of Germany’s destiny desperately trying to steer clear of the inevitable allied victory and the colossal embarrassment to Germany. Together they plot a way to kill Hitler, his right hand man Himmler and take command of his reserve forces in the capital and put an end to the war and the SS grip over Germany.
Tom Cruise plays the legendary Colonel Stauffenberg who after being injured in Tunisia returns to the German capital only to get tangled up in the historic 18th attempt on the German leader’s life. Kenneth Branagh who played Dr. Victor Frankenstein in 1994’s Frankenstein film, plays Major General Henning von Tresckow who makes the film’s first attempt of Hitler’s life by trying to get a bomb aboard a plane carrying the Furher. Bill Nighy (Love Actually) plays the indecisive and often irritating General Olbricht who can’t seem to put his critical outlook on the Nazi party to action.
Tom Wilkinson (Rockn’Rolla) plays General Fromm leader of Hitler’s reserve army who insists he wants no part to play in any conspiracy against his leader. Singer attempts to invoke a sense of sympathy toward the many characters who find themselves stuck in the middle of this great debate. With characters like General Fromm and Olbricht the film tries its best to make sure that there aren’t any scapegoats in the plot’s ultimate demise.
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Unfortunately though a major drawback in the film’s delivery was the forgettable performances it was clogged with. Even worse was that the most forgettable of the lot was Cruise who played the lead and the most important character of the lot. None of the performances were particularly poor but with such a powerful and seemingly unheard of story being told to the audience none of the actors seemed to be wholly convinced themselves. Cruise was boring, forgettable and completely uninspiring considering he was playing one of the only true German heroes of that War.
Unfortunately much of the film seemed the same to me. With such a great story in his hands Singer seemed to do a very average job at making a half baked wannabe thriller. In fact I can’t seem to get my head around how anyone could get this film wrong. Just put in a few actors who truly believe in its content, get a decent screenwriter and let the story do the rest. Instead the film delivers a lackluster bunch of performances with a truly poor script.
The film fell so short of its true potential that Valkyrie did exactly what it was meant not to do. Instead of delivering a solid piece in tribute to what great courage came from those dark days the film is tame and forgettable feeling overall like a black and white comic strip of an intensely intricate plot. |
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