Valkyrie

Ever since grade school, the topic of World War II has fascinated me.
Naturally, I figured the just released Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie would be amazing.
Eh. It was forgettable. The entire movie was based on the German soldiers and what
went on behind the scenes in the mid 1940's. Perhaps because everyone knows
what went on in Hitler's concentration camps during WWII directors decided to leave
footage out of Jews going through hell on earth, but I feel it has everything to do
with the time period and topic of the movie. I found it hard to take Cruise
seriously after his part in Tropic Thunder this summer with all of its comical props
and humorous scenes. Throughout the sequence of Valkyrie Cruise wears an eye
patch and carries a glass eye with him everywhere he goes, all while only surviving
with one arm and two fingers on his left hand.I don't mean to
downplay war injuries. I realize they are a serious issue. I just found it a bit overdone.
The actor who played Hitler did a phenomenal job. It was a truly eerie
comparison. Hitler was hardly ever shown, and when he was his resemblance
was a spot-on match to the pictures shown in hisotory books and movies. The
filming aspect was phenomenal. It's Cruise I can't get over.
Maybe it's the fact that Hollywood likes to poke fun at him and wife Katie
Holmes, or perhaps it's the fact that in every picture of him Cruise has that
cheesy smile. I just was not impressed with Valkyrie at all.
I give it 1 star.