‘Valkyrie’Directed by: Bryan SingerStarring: Tom CruiseC+

Valkyrie emerged this month as the frontrunner in a series of Nazi-based films to hit the box office in 2008 and 2009. This historical thriller boasted an experienced cast and a universally intriguing plot.

Directed by Bryan Singer – who has produced a battery of TV shows including ‘House M.D.’ and ‘Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler’ – ‘Valkyrie’ shows careful expertise and attention to detail. However, despite the film’s aforementioned attributes, one cannot help but exit the theater with a certain bad taste and a feeling that money was wasted on the ticket.

Among the host of qualms one may have with this film is the common problem directors face with any historical movie: knowledge of the outcome.

For those who possess any kind of knowledge on when and how Adolf Hitler died, the film held no suspense. Singer’s attempt to liven this wholly predictable plotline by littering it with inconsequential subplots detracted from the overall quality of the film.

Tom Cruise assumes the lead role of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who designs and executes the assassination plans. In this role, Cruise was blasé at best, and had he not held the leading part he would have been absolutely forgettable. Aside from physically resembling the actual man upon whom the role is based, Cruise’s place in the cast could have been filled by any number of actors who have mastered the sole expression worn by Cruise during the duration of the film: a serious and knowing stare.

Kenneth Branagh plays opposite Cruise as Major-General Henning von Tresckow. His character acted as a balance to Stauffenberg that was crucial to equilibrium between the conspirators, yet his performance failed to provide a similar balance to the quality of acting in the film.

This film, intended to tell the tale of an inspiring and heroic event orchestrated by extraordinary men, is put to shame by its cast’s inability to convey to the audience the full spectrum of emotions that followed the trials and tribulations their characters faced. However, what ‘Valkyrie’ may be lacking in performance is made up for in art.

The cinematography in ‘Valkyrie’ is undoubtedly its most redeeming quality, and better yet, one that almost vindicates its less-than-spectacular cast. The emotions that the audience feels after seeing the movie are not borne of the actors, but rather of the spectacular cinematography.

The camaraderie and unification exhibited by a gathering of the resistance members around a table succeeds in swelling the human soul with hope; the sight of reserve troops marching around an ominous display of dozens of Nazi flags lent a certain sense of unrest and urgency; a single tear falling down the face of a member of the resistance left an echoing pang of loss.

‘Valkyrie’ achieves its purpose in portraying the events of one of the most complex assassination attempts made on Adolf Hitler, but it fails utterly as a quality film. For those who wish to see it, it may be a better use of money to wait until this production is released on DVD.

Published on January 14, 2009 at 12:00 pm