Review of Munich (2005) by Do You Even Jay C — 20 May 2014

*THE OFFICIAL BETTER THAN JUNO SEAL*.

I've never felt compelled to write a review of this film, due to it's extremely controversial topic, but I've decided it's worth a go. Munich is a 2005 Spielberg directed film that was released mere months after Spielberg's terrible War of the Worlds. Both films have extremely long runtimes, so most people weren't sure if Spielberg could pull both of them off... They were right. War of the World was a failure on all accounts. However, Munich is in fact the best post Saving Private Ryan Spielberg film to date. More in line with Schindler's List than any other effort, Munich relies on it's gritty tale. Unlike Schindler's List, however, Munich does away with Spielberg's usual theatrics.

Set in the 1972 Berlin Olympics, terrorists have killed 2 Jewish Olympians and have taken 9 others hostage. Demanding travel to their homes or else they will murder the hostages, the terrorists are soon murdered. At first, everyone believes the hostages are safe, but then, it is revealed that they were killed in the gunfight. Angered by the acts of terrorism, the Israeli government hires group of assassins to hunt down and murder all those responsible for the deaths of the Jewish Olympians, all of whom are Palestinians living in Europe. There's a lot more stuff going on in this film than what I've said and this is a minor problem with me, but it's very haphazard in it's plotting. However, that's where I end my complaints.

Spielberg has crafted an uneasy going film. Some may dismiss it for sympathizing with the terrorists, but I found it to be much more. In the hands of a lesser director, this film could've turned into your run of the mill thriller, making the Palestinians to be the bad guys, but that's the brilliance of Munich. It takes no side on the matter of who was more evil, but focuses more on the evil of violence. Most of the terrorists aren't portrayed as terrorists. They are seen as average day people, some of which are charming and likable. When they are murdered, it makes us feel uncomfortable for the fact that we really didn't hate them. Yeah, they did horrible things, but we're not sure. And that's where it's brilliant. You may not agree with what Spielberg is saying, but he makes a really good argument against what the Israelis did.

Well, this may seem a little bit of the unpopular opinion, but I preferred this film to Schindler's List. Mainly cause Schindler's List, while being a very engaging film, relied too much on theatrics. Instead of seeing gritty Spielberg, we got Spielberg the artist with that film. Most notably, the scene where the Jews were sent to the gas chamber, only for it to turn out to be a shower. Yeah, that was tense, but not realistic. Also, the ending for Schindler's List ruined it as well, relying on a much more sappy ending than a good closure. Munich, on the other hand, holds no bars. When someone has to die, someone has to die. It's a much more grittier take on history than Schindler's List and does away with the sappy ending Schindler's List had.

Overall, Munich is Schindler's List without the theatrics. It's a dark, dark tale on an even darker story. It's just as emotionally rooted as Schindler's List as well. Both films are very heartbreaking tales and sad. However, if I had a gun to my head, I'd pick Munich. Eric Bana gives probably the best performance in any Spielberg film since Liam Neeson as Schindler. One can note that the film's violence can be a tad overbearing, but it adds more to the message of the film: Responding to violence with violence is never a good thing. It's a good film and I can't recommend it enough. Some small cons could be it's length, which sits at 2 hours and 45 minutes (163 minutes in total) and it's somewhat haphazard plotting. But once you get past that, you have a truly engaging film that should spark debate up for any one of us.

8/10.