Honourable, brave, decisive, and a fierce love for his country, these are all the qualities of the very complicated and heroic Col Claus Von Stauffenberg who dared to attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, however, Tom Cruise’s performance takes away from the otherwise good plot line.
Anyone who knows their world history is aware before the film even starts that Hitler survived the many attempts on his life until one day it was taken by his own hand in his bunker as the Allies closed in. Valkyrie shows how a band of German officers, sickened by Hitler’s reign of evil, plot the last of 15 known assassination attempts (July 20, 1944 ).
The film opens in Tunisia, Africa, where Col Von Stauffenberg (Cruise ) weighs up his oath of allegiance to Hitler and his duty to protect his country or “sacred Germany”. The latter wins out but just as he comes to this conclusion he is badly injured in an allied attack. A disenchanted Stauffenberg returns to his homeland and is eventually introduced by Major General Henning Von Tresckow (Kenneth Brannagh ) and General Friedrich Olbricht (Bill Nighy ) to a number of like-minded individuals.
Stauffenberg quickly suggests the re-writing of Operation Valkyrie, a back-up plan in which the reserve army protects Berlin and the central government should Hitler be killed. Promoted to a key position he is allowed access to high-level debriefings and to Hitler himself. The pieces are in place, the conspirators are ready to take action, but just as history records the bomb fails to kill its intended target and his top aides.
This film certainly keeps the interest of the audience as the conspirators’ dangerous dealings is full of suspense, especially during their fateful actions following the bomb explosion. Director Bryan Singer, who is reunited with his The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie and his writing partner Nathan Alexander, has done well here with a sort of heist-like filming complete with excellent action scenes.
However, I have a problem with Cruise himself who certainly tried to look the part with the eye patch and all, but it still didn’t quite work. His portrayal of Stauffenberg is not bad but it fails to really delve into the man who risked everything, his position, his family, and his life, to bring honour back to Germany. It takes a special kind of man to do this but Cruise’s performance just simply seems to wilt in the spotlights produced by great British actors such as Nighy and Tom Wilkinson (General Friedrich Fromm ).
Even if you are not particularly a war film fan Valkyrie is certainly worth a look but don’t expect Cruise greatness.
Verdict 4/5
