Hail the effort

After keeping Valkyrie under wraps for months and moving its release date four times, MGM has finally pulled back the curtains on its Tom Cruise Second World War historical thriller to reveal a coolly efficient, entertaining and straightforward tale about the last of 15 known assassination attempts against Adolf Hitler.

Working against the known outcome of this plot, director Bryan Singer — reunited with his The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie and his writing partner, Nathan Alexander — manages to maintain suspense in the unfolding conspiracy.

How deep or long Valkyrie will maintain that fascination is tough to predict. The twin draws of Cruise and curiosity ensure initial crowds.

Whatever its superficial resemblance to Cruise's highly popular Mission: Impossible series, Valkyrie isn't a crowd-pleaser of that order.

But if Cruise's career is seen as momentarily stalled, Valkyrie is not the electric jolt he's looking for as a jump-start.

The plot

Cruise plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a central figure in the July 20, 1944, shrewdly planned assassination and coup attempt against the Nazi leader.

A considerable number of people were involved and the film whittles these down to a manageable cast.

The film opens with Stauffenberg forswearing his allegiance to the Führer because of the murderous outrages the German leader has committed, forever staining the honour of his country and its army.

This is a key point, yet the movie hurries off to chronicle an earlier assassination attempt that misfires, Stauffenberg's own injuries fighting in Tunisia, his recruitment by similar-minded officers and the bomb he plants at the Wolf's Lair that fails to kill Hitler.

The film needed to explore more fully the motives of these people who found themselves willing to eliminate their supreme commander.

Loose ends

Why do these Germans want him dead? Stauffenberg's explanation is fine as far as it goes but does it apply to the other 200? Is it even the only motivation for Stauffenberg? Does he not maybe see himself as a postwar German leader?

Cruise doesn't star in this movie as he has in nearly all his previous films.

He is the key player in an ensemble, but he — how to put this — blends in.

Frankly, Kenneth Branagh's Major-General Tresckow, an even stronger zealot; such ambiguous figures as Tom Wilkinson's General Fromm and Eddie Izzard's General Fellgiebel; Terence Stamp's General Beck, who resigns as early as 1938 to protest Hitler's military aggression; and Bill Nighy's General Olbricht, are all compelling personalities.

The coup itself, following the assassination attempt that many believe has succeeded, makes for fascinating viewing.

All details are convincing and, presumably, well researched. The film has a documentary-like authenticity, yet the film remains a sleek thriller with flawed heroes and catastrophic missteps.

Singer has crafted a fine film. One just wishes for even greater details and a different ending.