Rating of
3.5/4
Entertaining History Lesson!!
mdtinney - wrote on 06/10/09
Yes, Tom Cruise is a bizarre choice to portray a one-handed, eye-patch-wearing dissenting Colonel in Hitler's army, but if he can be a vampire, a samurai, and a balding movie producer, why not a German officer? After a clever transition from subtitles to English, Valkyrie unfolds a mesmerizing story that succeeds in maintaining a constant suspense regardless of an ultimate outcome known to all. While perhaps not the best WWII movie to premiere this year, Valkyrie still supplies the thrills it promises and shouldn't be discarded simply for its unconventional casting. Based on the true story of the last plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Valkyrie follows the determined Colonel von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) as he joins forces with high-ranking dissenting officers Olbricht (Bill Nighy), Beck (Terence Stamp), and von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh) to plan the coup. Revising operation Valkyrie, Hitler's own policy to protect his regime, the conspirators arrange to eradicate Hitler and mobilize infantry reserves to take over Berlin – but as Beck states, in a military operation nothing ever goes according to plan…
