"Munich" Review

I just saw the Steven Spielberg film, "Munich," today. It's a film based on the 1972 terrorist attacks on the Israeli athletic team in Munich, Germany. The film also explores the after-effects of these attacks.

The film is 2 hours and 44 minutes long, so I won't go into too many details. It'd take me a few days to summarize it thoroughly. But, the movie is intense, well-acted, well-directed (of course), and thought-provoking. It gives a very real and different look at terrorism, which may be looked at as controversial by some, but with Spielberg and controversial come praise and appreciation.

Following the terrorist attacks, a group of men are sent to kill the eleven men who were responsible for the attacks and killings of eleven Israeli's. These men appear to have no conscience from the outset, whole-heartedly believing in their mission and having no qualms about the assassinations. This group gets off to an efficient start, but the mission is sidetracked on a couple occasions and the longer the mission transpires, the more questions and doubts are raised.

"Munich" is a very riveting and emotional film that attempts to dig deep into the minds and conscience of the assassins. The film may be 164 minutes long, but it moves along pretty quickly. There aren't any slow down times where the viewer may be tempted to space off or fall asleep. Some may see the film as controversial, but what controversy can pose many times (in art) are the tough, critical questions that most are too tentative to raise. "Munich" does just that, and although, all the questions may not get answered, sometimes the question is more important than the answer, for there is no answer without the question. Anyone is welcome to their own interpretations and conclusions following the film, but two points I think the film made are: 1) Every group of people has blood on their hands and regardless of how we view another mass of people, the mass we associate ourselves with is probably far more similar to that group of people than we'd like to admit and 2) Violence does not solve problems. It only makes matters worse. I still give the edge to best picture of the year to "Brokeback Mountain," but "Munich," along with "Syriana" and "Crash," are solid runners-up. I recommend this film to any and everyone who is not bothered by the time-length of the picture.

Overall Grade: 8.5/10