Review of Valkyrie (2008) by Luke N — 31 Dec 2013

Despite its credibility being marred by its characters having British accents, Bryan Singer ('Apt Pupil', 'The Usual Suspects', 'X2') turns in another great performance at bringing this historical drama to life.

Many find Tom Cruise's presence greatly damaging to the portrayal of Stauffenberg, and while they could have chosen a more appropriate actor, I do think that Cruise gives a very solid performance either way.

The rest of the cast are equally brilliant - especially Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy. But my favourite thing about this movie is Singer's direction. Wherever this movie does fall flat, I think that Singer did an excellent job at establishing the tense atmosphere that surrounded those under rule of Adolf Hitler.

We all know that Hitler wasn't assassinated, but like that scene in 'Titanic', when the ship veers into the ice, this film always manages to convince that just maybe, things will turn out differently.

I really think this movie deserves more credit than it gets.