Anyone with the tiniest bit of interest in history would know how Valkyrie ends. So why would anyone be interested in watching it?
For many solid reasons.
Between the beginning and the end of each journey, there is the journey itself. This movie is about a journey, and its details, which in this case is extremely exciting to witness.
Tom Cruise has been telling us for years that he loves to make movies. With Valkyrie, which he produced and played the main character, he scored a triumph of true movie making, that we love to watch. He extraordinarily plays Colonel Stauffenberg, one of the players in an assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler during WWII. The rest of the cast give a similar performance that adds a super thrilling effect through experiencing the ride. Of the many great talents associated in this work, actors Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Izzard, Tom Wilkinson and Jamie Parker do an outstanding job playing the military men that were tormented between their oath to their fuehrer and their duty to their nation. David Bamber, although he has limited presence, he provides us with a Hitler as dangerous as we expect him to be. A standing ovation to the casting agents.
But this movie is not the cast’s movie. It was the director’s movie. It was Bryan Singer’s brilliance that turned a bit of history into a magical presentation that is very well weaved by the hands of the writers to give the viewer a relentless sequence of events and made it one of the most enjoyable movie watching experiences in the last few years. His maneuvering camera work takes the viewer into a realistic atmosphere through each step of the action sequences. Through this movie you would: feel the stomps of the advancing soldiers as you are one of them, hold you your breath in the presence of the mad dictator, live an extra jolt of Adrenaline while leaving the bunker, and experince the silence of failure.
If you are looking for action, then this is not your movie. If you are looking for the other elements that attract movie goers these days (anything between hot babes running in the woods in their under garments to giant robots), then you will be extremely disappointed. Now, if you are looking for a perfect thriller, that would surprise you even though you know the ending, then please watch Valkyrie.
