Movie review: Valkyrie

by Alex Bentley

Once upon a time, the cast and crew of the new film, Valkyrie, would’ve inspired hosannas from fans and critics long before the film ever came out. Come on, Tom Cruise, the golden god of film, directed by Bryan Singer, the genius behind The Usual Suspects and the first two X-Men movies – that's a guaranteed winner no matter what the subject matter.

Of course, that was before Cruise apparently went way off the Scientology deep end and Singer’s credentials took a hit with the less-than-well-received Superman Returns. Their pairing now still has a certain cachet, but more in the respect of whether each of them can make a comeback with a film about a subject that’s both safe and risky at the same time.

Valkyrie is the story of some members of Adolf Hitler’s army and their attempts to assassinate him in the waning days of World War II. Cruise plays Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg, who starts off the film in the deserts of North Africa but returns to Germany after suffering injuries in a plane attack. Aside from losing an eye (which forces him to alternate between an eyepatch or a fake eye, depending on the occasion), Stauffenberg also loses one hand and some fingers on the other hand.

The injuries turn out to be a blessing in disguise, as it allows him to stop dreaming about overthrowing Hitler and actually do something about it. Upon his return, he teams up with General Olbricht (Bill Nighy), Ludwig Beck (Terence Stamp), and other loyal dissenters to put together a plan (codename Valkyrie) that would ensure the rebels could take out Hitler and take over the government.

Besides the recent downturns of Cruise and Singer, Valkyrie would seem to have two things going against it. First, the protagonists of the story are still members of the German army. Even though great pains are taken to establish the idea that these particular people hate Hitler and all he stands for, there’s still the idea that they possibly supported him at one point. Second, if you can get past the first point, is the fact that the audience pretty much knows the end of the story going in, since Hitler died from suicide, not by assassination.

Nevertheless, Singer and go-to writer Christopher McQuarrie (assisted by co-writer Nathan Alexander) are able to craft a relatively-suspenseful film from pieces that seem like they shouldn’t work. Even though you know the rebels won’t succeed, each twist and turn along the way gets the blood pumping, which probably has something to do with the ire that the sight of Hitler still generates.

The level of acting present in the film also helps. In addition to Cruise, Nighy, and Stamp, Tom Wilkinson plays a general who may or may not stand in the rebels’ way and Kenneth Branagh pops up now and again as a sympathizer. While it’s a bit odd to have the majority of actors talking in British accents while Cruise stays solidly in American territory, Singer does a nice job early on of transitioning the audience into accepting non-German accents. It's not perfect, but at least there's some sort of explanation.

Valkyrie is far from being without faults, however. Aside from the few mentioned above, most of the characters seem underdeveloped, so much so that an epilogue detailing their fates is met with a “Who was that guy again?” A couple of characters disappear and then reappear without much explanation, most notably Branagh’s character. A few moments also tread right on that line between plausibility and ridiculousness, though fortunately most stay on the good side of that line.

Cruise and Singer have not fully redeemed themselves with Valkyrie, but they’ve at least proven that each still knows how to make an engaging film. Now they just have to go out and prove themselves again.

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