Review of Enemy at the Gates (2001) by Matthew S — 08 Feb 2011

This is a film that is easy to hate, but also easy to love. Though it is based on the true story of Vasiili Zaitsev, it plays fast and loose with the facts, focusing more on the drama. It manages to draw the viewer in with a startling look at one of World War II's more brutal battles, but the factually-accurate love story between two of the snipers unfortunately feels shoehorned into the finished product and out of place.

The film's visual style is typical, bathed in grey with splashes of red. However, the color seen in some of the more pleasent scenes is a nice touch.

The action is tense and gripping, and the film manages to build for most of it, although at points it does falter and let off some of the tension, an unwise decision in this case. The climax is a satisfying one, but right after the factual accuracy takes a nosedive to a cheap and contrived Hollywood ending as opposed to the more tragic reality.

It's still a great war film, but it could so easily have taken a place among the genre greats with just a little more tweaking.

OVERALL: 8.0/10.