.co.uk

I have never liked Tom Cruise. And I'm not particularly referring to his Scientology babbles, or his various other publicity stunts -- such as jumping on Oprah Winfrey's sofa -- either. I just think he's an incredibly mediocre actor.

When one has an opinion on a particular actor, it's only natural for them to have pre-conceptions on how the next movie will turn out. That's not to say I slate a film before I've even seen it (like some fanboys do); I maintain that I reserve my true judgement 'til I've seen the film in its entirety. The topic of World War II and Nazi Germany has been something that has interested since an early age, but my instincts beforehand told me that Valkyrie wasn't going to be anything special primarily because of the headlining actor.

And it wasn't, by any means. But that's not to say that I didn't particularly enjoy it.

Based on the true events of 20th July 1944, Cruise stars as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a German army officer in charge of the resistance planning to kill Adolf Hitler. "Operation Valkyrie" is defined as an emergency continuity of government, should the Führer be assassinated. Stauffenberg and his coup slightly amend this plan, in a bid to take control of the country and remove the Nazi party from power.

It's an intriguing scenario, and Director Bryan Singer does a good job at bringing some suspense to the various moments of the residence infiltrating the army. The odd shoot-out scenes appear authentic and attractive to the eye, and there are some good supporting roles (Kenneth Branagh; Bill Nighy) that do justice to the contempt for Hitler that a majority of the world has, even today. At times, it is a very gripping thriller.

But Valkyrie is probably something that should have been made as a documentary, rather than a film. The whole thing reeks of Hollywood, and whereas that has worked well for a majority of the action films I like, it just doesn't seem right here.

Cruise isn't particularly bad in his low-key portrayal of Stauffenberg, but he isn't particularly brilliant, either. He doesn't really do himself, or the film, any favours by not making the effort to speak in a German accent when most of the other actors are. Valkyrie, on the whole, just feels like it was made to entertain, rather than can give the people a history lesson.

While there's nothing particularly wrong with that -- Valkyrie is entertaining, as I said -- there's also the feeling that we want to know more from this story. Truth is, it feels as if there's nothing here that we didn't know already.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.