MattFini
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- May 7, 2004
- Messages
- 607
Saw this one last night. I haven't been paying much attention to the reviews but I understand they're mixed. Personally, I thought this was an excellent film in every regard.
Having written a thorough research paper on von Stauffenberg for my senior year of college I'll admit, Tom Cruise seemed like a very odd choice for this particular lead. His iconography doesn't seem to allow for a seamless blend into a historical piece such as this.
But my doubts were alleviated almost instantly as Cruise allows us to feel every drop of disillusionment in von Stauffenberg's psyche. It's in his demeanor, his inflections and in his dialogue. Cruise pulls it off masterfully.
What really makes this film, though, is Bryan Singer's masterful approach. It's like a two hour suspense setpiece seemingly constructed around the old Hitchcockian adage about showing the audience the bomb under the table. Valkyrie movies at a very fast pace, tightening its noose around its audience so that, even if we're prepared for the ending, we're still hoping for a different outcome.
Singer's talent has been obvious for a long while now, but his recent film is one of the most suspenseful I've seen in many years.
Sure this might now be Oscar material, but who cares. It's excellent filmmaking. Exciting, suspenseful and haunting.
My hat is off to the entire cast and crew for a job very well done. Valkyrie is one film I'll be picking up on Blu-ray as soon as it's released.
Having written a thorough research paper on von Stauffenberg for my senior year of college I'll admit, Tom Cruise seemed like a very odd choice for this particular lead. His iconography doesn't seem to allow for a seamless blend into a historical piece such as this.
But my doubts were alleviated almost instantly as Cruise allows us to feel every drop of disillusionment in von Stauffenberg's psyche. It's in his demeanor, his inflections and in his dialogue. Cruise pulls it off masterfully.
What really makes this film, though, is Bryan Singer's masterful approach. It's like a two hour suspense setpiece seemingly constructed around the old Hitchcockian adage about showing the audience the bomb under the table. Valkyrie movies at a very fast pace, tightening its noose around its audience so that, even if we're prepared for the ending, we're still hoping for a different outcome.
Singer's talent has been obvious for a long while now, but his recent film is one of the most suspenseful I've seen in many years.
Sure this might now be Oscar material, but who cares. It's excellent filmmaking. Exciting, suspenseful and haunting.
My hat is off to the entire cast and crew for a job very well done. Valkyrie is one film I'll be picking up on Blu-ray as soon as it's released.
Screw rottentomatoes!! Great directing, acting, story, suspense, action--I really have nothing bad to say. I look forward to getting this one on Blu-ray.
