Valkyrie

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Despite certain areas of the press that would have you believe otherwise, Tom Cruise has made a couple of bold moves with his career over the past year or so. Playing a staunchly conservative Machiavellian congressman in Lions for Lambs was just one; running his own studio and greenlighting this tense, skilfully helmed story of an attempt on the life of Adolf Hitler was the other. Claus von Stauffenberg is something of a hero in his native Germany, where his stance against a brutal Nazi regime during the Second World War is seen as the ultimate ballsy move. Stauffenberg was at the centre of a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler, when he and other members of the German military assembled a complex plan to off the angry little genocide-inflicting headcase, and overthrow his government. Anyone with a vague interest in the history of the time will know exactly how it turned out, but even a well-informed German historian would find it difficult to withstand the arse-clenching tension on show here. A quick Google imaging of von Stauffenberg will show an uncanny resemblance to Cruise, and the flashbulb beacon does more than simply resemble the character, lending his once mighty movie star charisma to that of a leader, who sacrificed much for the compliment of history. Those looking for Ethan Hunt in the guise of a real-life 1940's military officer will be sorely disappointed though, as Valkyrie has very little action to make mention of. What it does have is a fascinating story, well told by a director who has taken almost as much criticism as his leading man. Singer is still very much a top drawer helmer, and here shows he has lost none of his ability to guide a quickly unravelling plot to conclusion. His camera is involving if unnoticed, his pacing mostly swift and his direction subtle overall, sidestepping the heavy-handed sentiment of the likes Defiance for a more plot-driven affair. There is even a nice opening of a Cruise voiceover in German that turns to English, so the filmmakers at least acknowledge that the conversing of the characters did not take place in English. At times it moves a little too quickly, introducing too many characters who are undoubtedly significant, but lacking in screentime. But that's a small complaint to have in an otherwise solid thriller.