During World War II, the spectre of Hitler’s army loomed large across Europe, forcing neighbours to take sides in the wake of Nazi atrocities.

While Allied forces fought valiantly to repel the German onslaught, another battle was raging within the Fuhrer’s own officer corps; an uprising of men and women, loyal to their country, determined to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime.

Bryan Singer’s controversial war opus, scripted by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander, relates the final attempt on the German leader’s life before his suicide in April 1945 in the Fuhrerbunker.

Valkyrie is a remarkable, true-life tale of heroism during World War II.

Sadly, Singer’s film doesn’t do justice to the remarkable efforts of the German Resistance, lacking dramatic momentum and strong performances.

Crucially, we know Hitler survives this attempt on his life so there is an absence of tension from the opening frame, despite the best efforts of editor/composer John Ottman to underline every scene with a menacing orchestral soundtrack.

The picture opens in the deserts of Tunisia where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) rails in his diary, ‘Hitler is not only the archenemy of the entire world but the archenemy of Germany.

A change must be made…’ Badly injured in a strafing run by British fighter planes, losing one eye, his entire right hand and the fourth and fifth digits on the left, Claus is recruited by the Resistance to spearhead the latest assassination attempt.

The dissenters plot to seize control of the government using Operation Valkyrie, Hitler’s plan to protect ministers in case of an uprising using the reserve army.

With loyal adjutant Lieutenant Werner von Haeften (Jamie Parker) by his side, Claus works with high-ranking co-conspirators Major-General Henning von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh), General Erich Fellgiebel (Eddie Izzard), General Friedrich Olbricht (Bill Nighy) and Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim (Christian Berkel) to install General Ludwig Beck (Terence Stamp) as the new head of state.

However, there are many officers loyal to Hitler, including General Friedrich Fromm (Tom Wilkinson) and Major Otto Ernst Remeer (Thomas Kretschmann), and Claus knows that should he fail, his wife Nina (Carice van Houten) and children would surely be marked for death.

Opening to a cacophony of soldiers chanting Hitler’s oath, which pledges unconditional loyalty to the Fuhrer before God, Valkyrie is a plodding history lesson.

A couple of well-executed action sequences quicken the pulse but for the most part, Singer’s film ambles along without any sense of urgency.

Cruise lacks vitality – Claus was apparently a charismatic aristocrat in real life, though you would never guess from this sombre, one-note portrayal.

The leading man also retains his natural, soft New York twang, which clashes with a variety of regional British accents, a Flemish leading lady and the bona fide German members of supporting cast.

At the risk of unintentional hilarity a la ‘Allo ‘Allo!, perhaps everyone should have followed Bamber’s lead as Hitler, who delivers his lines in mock-Deutsch?

• Release Date: Friday 23 January 2009
• Certificate: 12A
• Runtime: 120mins

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