Saturday, 24 January 2009

Valkyrie, Valkarar,Valkyrie, Valkara-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Not that is was funny. Ok so I saw Valkyrie. Its not the greatest. At first I wasn't really that bothered, then Brother Chris highlighted the fact that Usual Suspects' Christopher McQuarrie wrote it so I was intrigued. Unfortunately, Brian Singer has lost it a bit I think. Overall it was a bit like watching a history video. Knowing nothing of the attempts on Hitlers life I have nothing to go on as to how much was made up. However, if even a fraction was made up, then they should have taken advantage and gone with it. Example, there's a section where Tom Cruise has to go and get an extra man to help out, obviously I'm paraphrasing and making it sounds slightly less interesting. Anyway, this extra man is attracted in an interesting fashion but it made me think that he could have made it like Magnificent Seven or Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise having to go an recruit these "traitors". And then have Willie carry the bags.

As it ends up, as mentioned, there's no real visual flair. The script is pretty good, and the acting is good in theory (more on that in a bit). But having a look at Christopher Mcquarrie's IMDB page, he hasn't done anything of his own for the last 8 years or so. The last thing he was credited for was Way of the Gun, and I wasn't a fan. Unfairly, I was comparing it to Usual Suspects a lot, not wholly my fault as this has been a major marketing factor.

So back to the acting, the German language is abandoned early on in a nice transition, however, then each actor speaks in with different accent. Tom Cruise is his usual American, the majority of the English cast use slightly posher accents, with the exception of Terence Stamp, who, as ever, seems to just be playing himself once again. Then on the other side you have Thomas Kretschmann with a German accent, and a few others with German accents. With no clear language flowing through the film you feel each character needs their own German to English transitional segment.

Overall, the film could've been better. I think, and I'm not sure if this is credible, it does show how loony Hitler and his followers really were. (A link to Scientology springs to mind). There is a scene with Hitler and his henchmen sitting in a circle like some kind of Evil League of Evil, each with their own special characteristic. Look out for the toys in shops soon. It also loses a lot of clarity when the good Germans start taking over, it all seems pretty easy, especially as they're following a guy with one eye, one hand adn only three finger left on the other. You can't really see how Germany nearly took over Europe. They were all mental.

Well, maybe not.

I'm trying but there doesn't seem to be anything better than Congo lately.

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