VALKYRIE
NAZI NAH JI
by Vishal Verma
An MGM release of an MGM and United Artists presentation of a Bad Hat Harry production, an Achte Babelsberg Film co-production. Produced by Bryan Singer, Christopher McQuarrie, Gilbert Adler. Executive producers, Chris Lee, Ken Kamins, Daniel M. Snyder, Dwight C. Schar, Mark Shapiro, John Ottman. Co-producers, Nathan Alexander, Henning Molfenter, Carl Woebcken, Christoph Fisser, Jeffrey Wetzel. Directed by Bryan Singer. Screenplay, Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander.
Genre: war – thriller. Target Audience: General.
Starring
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg - Tom Cruise
Major-Gen. Henning von Tresckow - Kenneth Branagh
Gen. Friedrich Olbricht - Bill Nighy
Gen. Friedrich Fromm - Tom Wilkinson
Nina von Stauffenberg - Carice van Houten
Maj. Otto Ernst Remer - Thomas Kretschmann
Gen. Ludwig Beck - Terence Stamp
Gen. Erich Fellgiebel - Eddie Izzard
Dr. Carl Goerdeler - Kevin R. McNally
Col. Mertz von Quirnheim - Christian Berkel
Lt. Werner von Haeften - Jamie Parker
Adolf Hitler - David Bamber
Col. Heinz Brandt - Tom Hollander
Erwin von Witzleben - David Schofield
Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel - Kenneth Cranham
Margarethe von Oven - Halina Reijn
Maj. Ernst John von Freyend - Werner Daehn
Dr. Joseph Goebbels - Harvey Friedman
Lt. Herber - Matthias Schweighofer.
Technical Analysis
Don’t be fooled by the trailer - Valkyrie is no action extravaganza. When a Nazi fights a Nazi in movie & still it becomes tedious then there is a serious problem. "Valkyrie" is like watching someone build a bomb and then never getting to see it explode.
The movie has an army of problems. There’s a whiff of pointlessness hanging over this whole affair. As a result of the plot’s tediousness and lack of the required surprise factor for a thriller, the tension wanes. The performances vary all across the board. Tom Cruise delivers a mediocre performance that fails to allow the audience to emotionally connect with his character, especially during the ultimate scenes. Only do Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Terrance Stamp and Tom Wilkinson manage to deliver truly solid performances here.
With a more intelligent and taut screenplay, Valkyrie could have been much more riveting rather than merely be sporadically thrilling, mostly bland and, ultimately, underwhelming.
Anyhow, the movie still manages to score 2 & ½ points out of five. One for the superb production design by Lilly Kilvert and Patrick Lumb, which convey a palpable sense of legendary historical sites such as the War Ministry, Wolf's Lair, Hitler's Berghof residence and the Benderblock (the executions of Stauffenberg and others were lensed at the actual spot). A couple Junkers three-engine planes of the sort used by Hitler are impressively employed, and attention to detail is felt down the line.
The other for Newton Thomas remarkable cinematography & John Ottman’s sharp editing & compsing.
The remaining half for the strong performance by Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terrance Stamp and Tom Wilkinson
The Story
Based on a true story of cadre of Nazi officers who grew to oppose Hitler's murderous pursuits and made several attempts to kill him in the late stages of WWII, Bryan Singer (X-MEN, X2) and star Tom Cruise, with a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie (THE USUAL SUSPECTS) and Nathan Alexander never gets constructed like a heist film, with a team of like-minded men coming together for a common purpose and facing incredible odds. It is 1943, and though he has come to be disgusted by Hitler's campaign of evil, Count Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) has risen to the level of lieutenant colonel in the German army. Convinced that Hitler must die (why nobody knows), Von Stauffenberg requests a transfer to Tunisia, where he loses his left eye and right hand during an Allied air raid. Falling in with a group of similarly disillusioned officers including Major General Henning von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh), General Friedrich Olbricht (Bill Nighy), General Friedrich Fromm (Tom Wilkinson), and Colonel General Ludwig Beck (Terence Stamp), Stauffenberg is at the center of several attempts on Der Fuhrer's life, culminating in a bombing that kills a handful of his officers and leaves Hitler only slightly injured. Though it's a story to which viewers should already know the ending, Singer cannot add any twists & the result is a boring experience.
Business Analysis
The second production from Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner at United Artists has so far grossed 153,919,416 $ worldwide, its Indian run should be better then their previous "Lions for Lambs,". Fans will flock in initially, but it doesn,t has the strength to sustain & the voice to attract more legs to the theatres.
Other Credits
Camera (Technicolor), Newton Thomas Sigel; editor, John Ottman; music, Ottman; production designers, Lilly Kilvert, Patrick Lumb; supervising art directors, John Warnke, Keith Pain, Ralf Schreck; art director, Cornelia Ott; set decorator, Bernard Henrich; costume designer, Joanna Johnston; sound (Dolby Digital/SDDS/DTS), Chris Munro; supervising sound editors, Craig Henighan, Erik Aadahl; sound designer, Aadahl; re-recording mixers, Henighan, Skip Lievsay, Michael Herbick; visual effects supervisor, Richard R. Hoover; special visual effects and animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks; visual effects, Savage Visual Effects, Frantic Films, Pacific Title & Art Studio; special effects supervisor, Allen Hall; stunt coordinators, Greg Powell, James Armstrong (U.S.); line producers, Chris Brock, Oliver Luer; assistant directors, Jeffrey Wetzel, Lee Cleary; second unit director, Eric Schwab; second unit camera, Ross Emery; casting, Roger Mussenden. Reviewed at Famous Preview Theatre, Mumbai, February 18, 2009. Censored with ‘U/A’. Running time: 120 Min.