Cruise proves critics wrong in ‘Valkyrie’

Director: Bryan Singer

Cast: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Terrence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy

A lot of humble-pie is likely to be served up to the critics who predicted doom and gloom for this film, and particularly for Cruise.

Some critics who hadn’t even seen the film had dismissed his performance outright.

But the truth is that Cruise is excellent in this fact-based story of the l944 plot by German army officers to assassinate Hitler. The film has been hounded by controversy since it was announced, but Cruise, and all his fellow performers, bring us a first-rate historical thriller that retains our attention from first to last.

That we know the outcome of the plot in no ways makes the film’s development any less compelling, the strength lies in the journey to the tragic destination.

Cruise plays Colonel Claud von Stauffenberg, who was the leader of the plot, and Branagh, now back firmly as one of the outstanding actors of his generation, equals Cruise as Major General Henning von Tresckow in a film that turns out to be much, much better than any of us ever predicted.

Star Rating: 5/5