When first hearing about this movie I was a bit skeptical. A movie about German officers played by American actors and staring Tom Cruise sounded like something I did not want to watch. However the words "don't watch" are not in my vocabulary so setting aside all doubt I watched it. Let me just put it this way. Yet again did I have no reason to be skeptical and yet again did I discover something much better than anticipated.
The strongest part of the movie is without a doubt the story. Based on actual events the story is very interesting and also very educational. Without being able to say just how accurate Valkyrie is, I like to believe it tells more or less the truth. Personally the plots to assassinate Hitler is something I know very little about so watching this filled some of that. It feels good to know that even within his own army there where people who did not agree with his agenda and wanted to save Europe from total destruction.
Bryan Singer, the man that directed "The Usual Suspects" some 14 years ago, does a great job with Valkyrie. The plot is easy to follow and the flow of the movie feels right.
What I liked the least was the English dialog. I just never felt comfortable with the heavy American accent. Having everyone speak German would of course have been the best, but I understand why they did not choose that. However it might have felt better with a German accent. The fact that we know from the beginning that the plot will fail ruins the story a little bit as well. This is of course a problem all movies about history face.
Overall Valkyrie is a great movie that tells a very interesting story. I learned a new part of history I was not very familiar with and was entertained from start to finish. 8/10