Valkyrie has resurrected Cruise

MOVIE REVIEW

Valkyrie

Certification: PG

Cast: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Thomas Kretschmann, Kenneth Branagh, Terrence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Christian Berkel, David Bamber

Director: Bryan Singer

Genre: Drama, Thriller

LAST year it was "Lions For Lambs"; this year, "Valkyrie". Ever since Tom Cruise departed from Paramount and then purchased a stake at United Artists, his focus on movies for himself seems to involve around serious war dramas.

So gone are the days of big-budget action and impossible missions? Let's not write him off of that just yet. Cruise isn't even 40 yet.

However, he still has nothing lined up after "Valkyrie" in the acting department. Perhaps getting back on the good side of the public eyes will take longer than a few years after that self-righteous streak.

Or perhaps "Valkyrie" just might succeed where "Lions For Lambs" has failed, that is putting the name of Tom Cruise back on billboard posters without harming the movie itself.

Operation Valkyrie, or known in German as "Operation Walkure", was developed for the German Reserve Army to take control of Berlin in the event of a national emergency.

It was a plan that was approved by Adolf Hitler but ironically, it was this plan that almost succeeded in removing Hitler's dictatorship. Orchestrating this covert operation was Claus von Stauffenberg, and in this movie Cruise gives a respectable performance as the colonel.

Alongside von Stauffenberg, in this movie as the World War II history recorded many more, are other high-ranking Nazi officers; all of whom have various levels of access to Hitler and his day-to-day operations.

Their mission is to kill Hitler, replace the government as bloodlessly as possible and negotiate a peace deal with the Allied forces in order to prevent more losses of the German soldiers in the war that Germany can no longer win.

After recovering from injury sustained while in North Africa, von Stauffenberg is recruited by Major-General Henning von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh) and General Friedrich Olbricht (Bill Nighy) into a small group of rogues to plot against Hitler an impressive feat because it involved many high-ranking officers.

In this movie, Tom Cruise never takes the spotlight. Sure, he is the man with the plan, both on and behind the screen; but Singer has kept both Cruise's stardom and infamy in-check, blending him into the picture and never making the movie solely about him.

The rest of the cast are given their own time to shine, and that's another credit to Singer who is able to focus on many players in one movie without over-doing or over-compensating any; as can be seen in his X-movies and "The Usual Suspects".

The supporting cast all give compelling performances, most notably from Nighy, Branagh, Eddie Izzard as General Fellgeibel who cuts off communications at Wolf's Lair, Christian Berkel as Colonel von Quirnheim who fights off paranoia during the most crucial moment, and Thomas Kretschmann as Major Remer, leader of the Reserve Army.

Tom Wilkinson in particular is stellar playing General Friedrich Fromm who treads dangerously on both sides of the fence but is still able to maintain neutrality.

Take for example Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution", whereby when members of the resistance were captured and gunned down, there was a sense of loss and sympathy. But here is where "Valkyrie" failed to connect with its audience.

Despite one minor flaw, "Valkyrie" still has a well-written script, great direction and an incredible cast.

Though not his best, Tom Cruise does deliver. In fact, his performance rarely ruins a movie because he is such a competent, underrated actor. His time for redemption will come. Maybe "Mission: Impossible IV" is next?

Reviewer's Rating: 8 / 10

The Brunei Times