Review: Valkyrie (12A)
by Evening Gazette
WHILE Allied forces fought to repel the German onslaught during World War II, another battle was raging within the Fuhrer’s own officer corps.
Bryan Singer’s war opus relates the final attempt on the German leader’s life before his suicide in April 1945 in the Fuhrerbunker.
Valkyrie is a remarkable true life tale of heroism, sadly Singer’s film doesn’t do it justice.
The picture opens in the deserts of Tunisia where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg loses one eye, his right hand and the fourth and fifth digits on the left.
With Lt Werner von Haeften (Parker) by his side, Claus works with Major-General Henning von Tresckow (Branagh), General Erich Fellgiebel (Izzard), General Friedrich Olbricht (Nighy) and Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim (Berkel) to install General Ludwig Beck (Stamp) as new head of state.
Opening to a cacophony of soldiers chanting Hitler’s oath, which pledges unconditional loyalty, Valkyrie is a plodding history lesson. A few well executed action sequences quicken the pulse but Singer’s film ambles along with no sense of urgency.
The leading man retains his New York twang which clashes with a variety of regional British accents, a Flemish leading lady and the bona fide German members of supporting cast. At the risk of unintentional hilarity a la ’Allo ’Allo!, perhaps everyone should have followed Bamber’s lead who delivers his lines as Hitler in mock-Deutsch?
Starring: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Jamie Parker, Christian Berkel, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Kevin R McNally, Kenneth Branagh, David Bamber
Director: Bryan Singer
Length: 120mins
Star Rating: 2 Stars 
