Valkyrie
VALKYRIE has more name actors in it than a movie like this should allow. Despite such an array of film aristocracy [Cruise, Wilkinson, Branagh, Nighy, Stamp, Kretschmann and Stamp] it reminds me of a Broadway revival of some dusty play filled with old name stars. Yes I have seen plenty of those before starring Bacall, Plummer, Harrison and Van Sydow. And they always end up from a promising thud to ultimately shuddering into a dud.
Not that I can call a VALKYRIE a total dud, after all it does have the stars on its side but Bryan Singer's deadly dull Nazi versus Nazi page of history is certainly a dusty film when it should have been thrilling. To begin with there's a dead end story whose plot we can already figure out. A failed attempt at a coup against Hitler needs to do much more than tell its story if we are to deem it effective in any way. Here characterization is given wayside to an array of bland characters with no distinct personalities. From first appearance, they are all mad men in uniforms.
The movie is so busy explaining itself with titles indicating day, time, location and names that it actually distracts from the plot. Going in, knowing VALKYRIE wasn't going to take me anywhere intellectually - for such a need I have cable and a library - I was ready to escape. I was waiting for the thrills but VALKYRIE's most exciting action sequences came and went without much fanfare.
While VALKYRIE has probably much more in common with the old television series MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE [not to be confused with the junky Cruise movie series] than the true story it has been inspired by, the movie's dramatic tension is undermined by way too many insignificant details, rhetorical conversations and an overabundance of locations, at least for the viewer. It's as if this film was made by a pesky fact finder. Singer should have known that this is not THE USUAL SUSPECTS 2.
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