Review of Enemy at the Gates (2001) by Adrian B — 06 Jun 2012

Looks I will be disagreeing with a number of other critics here. Chronicle of World War II in Russia of which the allies descend on Stalingrad is grim, entertaining, and ugly. One soldier, Vasilli Zaitsev (Jude Law), becomes an ace shooter against the Nazi's and his objective is to capture one particular general (Ed Harris).

This is generally good plot, with very nice emphasis on the war scenes and special effects. I also feel it over shadows the other conflicting, inadequately developed plot of the romance between Vasilli and two other characters (Joseph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz), which is sadly not appropriate.

It is a good film, but it could have been much better had the writers omitted the secondary story. It could have been a film like "The Longest Day" from 1962, which focused on the battle scenes along the western coast of France, but instead it would have taken place in Russia.

I do like, but I am not crazy about it.