| Review Date: Director: Steven Spielberg Writer: Tony Kushner, Eric Roth Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Colin Wilson, Barry Mendel Actors: Eric Bana as Avner Daniel Craig as Steve Geoffrey Rush as Ephraim |
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I was personally a little disappointed in the lack of time spent on screen by Daniel Craig (you know, the next James Bond), especially since I didn’t even realize what his character was doing as part of the team until the film’s final half hour or so – before then, he was just sitting around a lot. I also didn’t appreciate the film’s focus on bombs, not because I have anything against the act of bombing terrorists per se, but because it simply started to get on my nerves as the main strategy of these people, particularly with the inherent problems that seemed to come with it. I think the film’s mid-section could also have been compacted a little, as the hits against the “black list” members started to feel redundant after a while—they could have squeezed a couple of them into colorful montages and added more character introspection, if you ask me. That said, the hits were all pretty unique, Bana was awesome throughout, especially in his more private moments with his family and self, the ending was predictable, but still poignant enough to make one re-think the logic of revenge, an “eye for an eye” and all that jazz, and you gotta give the film points for all of its technical merits including cinematography, sound, editing and direction, all of which helped give the picture a resoundingly more authentic look and feel – always important in films “inspired” or “based” on true events. Which reminds me…all of the flashbacks to the actual Munich tragedy were well-crafted and worked. All in all, a great movie with an excellent showing by Bana, that dares to ask important questions about the ongoing issues in the Middle East, as well as the ongoing battles between home countries, terrorist organizations and/or freedom fighters. Whose side are you on? Let’s talk.