Valkyrie: because Tom Cruise still can't act. Surprise!

I know, I know. Valkyrie is old news. Bear with me.

Is there anybody left on this planet that still thinks Tom Cruise can act? He can speak lines, maybe, but act? No. With that in mind, I didn't think Valkyrie was half bad. Granted, my expectations had been for a Nazi Germany action flick, as the trailers seemed to indicate, but in that regard, I was sorely disappointed, as this movie contained so little action, an occasional explosion was the best we get. Of course, being based off a true story, there's only so much a filmmaker can do, but some excitement would have been much welcomed.

About the characters... *sigh.* Most of the characters seemed to be stock characters, drawn off of previous movies, with a cast that didn't seem to quite connect. On their own, each actor was good for their roll, but each one created a different dynamic, and too many clashing dynamics made for a lot of weak characters. While Tom Cruise's character enjoyed the most screen time, his was one of the more poorly developed characters.

The plot was, to say the least, poorly executed. Things were never fully explained or quite clear, and the movie attempted to go in too many different directions at the same time. I can't elaborate any more on the problems with the plot, considering it is based on a true story, which the filmmakers seemed to be trying to make abundantly clear.

Aside from character and plot issues, it was a beautifully shot movie, although it relied a bit to heavily on "standard" shots. one scene in particular caught my eye: it shows a record spinning in the center of the screen, and while slowly zooming in, the camera begins to turn, until it is spinning along with the record, making the record seem to be standing still, and the needle spinning around it. While this was a creative scene, it held no significance. With an eye-catching scene such as that, the record should have been significant in some way, maybe brought up throughout the movie, or with a significant song playing. As it is, it was playing a famous Wagner song, which was, while inspiring, rather insignificant.

On the whole, the movie was excellently shot, but the severe flaws in the characters and plot development gave it a very weak foundation. If you enjoy dramas, this is a rather beautiful, if trivial, take on the politics of Nazi Germany, but if you are looking for a good, exciting, action movie, I'm afraid you'll have to look somewhere else.