I figured I would take a stab at this.
“The world was watching in 1972 as 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics. This is the story of what happened next.”
While its been out for a week or so, I have not seen anything on this site mentioned about it.
It stars Eric Bana (Hulk, Black Hawk Down, Troy) as Avner.
It also stars the future James Bond, Daniel Craig as Steve, Avners helper.
Other actors are un-heard of. Most of them being foreign actors. Except wonderful Geoffrey Rush, who plays Eric Bana’s team case worker.
Legend has it that early in his career, Steven Spielberg pursued the job of directing a James Bond movie. That of course never happened, but he did get to bring another dashing adventurer, Indiana Jones, to the screen - a much greater accomplishment in retrospect. With his latest film, “Munich”, Spielberg gets to once again indulge his 007 wish, but this time in a very different and most unlikely way. It is the story of a band of covert Israeli government assassins out to exact revenge upon the killers of their country’s eleven athletes in 1972 at the infamous Munich Olympic Games.
Plot Summary:
During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack.
Now of course the story portrayed in this movie is fictional, but it is based among real events.
They show a lot of television footage from 1972, and at first the movie seems more or less like a documentary.
In one scene, they re-enact the all infamous video of the terrorist in yellow, stepping out onto the balcony…as you are watching the old footage on the television in the same scene. Its really, really awesome how they did it.
So after the news mistakenly tells everyone the Olympians are alive…they must tell everyone they messed up, and all 11 infact are dead…as are all but 3 terrorists.
Shortly soon thereafter, Avner (Bana), is shown watching the news of the killings at his Israeli home with his pregnant wife. The next day he walks out of his house, and is greeted by a few rather distinguishable military men.
He is brought to the home of a lady (whom we are never really told who she is) who is very very very high up in the Israeli government. It is soon revealed that he was once her bodygaurd. And he is also the son of an imprisoned war hero.
They ask him to take on a highly dangerous, and very long mission. He has one day to accept.
Obviously he does…or there wouldn’t be a movie :bloated:
Essentially, they have him sign his life away, and sign a contract that there is no contract. He does not work for anyone. The government has only told a few officials about this, and not even the prime minister himself knows. The less people know, the better off everyone is.
So, Geoffrey Rush, who helps him throughout the movie, tells him what his mission is.
Eleven men helped plan the Munich massacre. They want Avner, and 4 non-specialists to go throughout Europe, track these men down. And kill them.
Any way they have to. Now when I say these men are non-specialists…it is true. One is an antiques dealer, the other is a toy maker. The other two, it is not really ever mentioned what they do.
The Israeli government does not help them in anyway (they have no contact with them throughout the movie), except they deposit $250,000 in a bank in Geneva every few days. His men are paid thousands, and his wife is also paid handsomely every month.
It is up to him and his men, to find these men (mostly by using contacts) etc etc.
They get briefed, travel the globe, meet femme fatales, kill a lot of people, get into chases, and even use lethal gagets. . But this time there is a twist – this time, it’s all real world, to the point that the film is “Inspired by true events” (and based upon the book “Vengeance” by George Jonas). In other words, the chases are sloppy, and makeshift gadgets kill indiscriminately, leaving behind pools of blood and mangled body parts. The targets have human faces, foibles, and families, making the assigned killing that much more of conscious struggle for those who haven’t managed to completely harden and suppress their emotions in the name of nationalism. Even the cold, flawed Bond of Ian Fleming never went to this place.
The movie was casted very well. It was also filmed with a camera that made the movie look old fashioned. Think the atmosphere and filming of Schindler’s List.
Steven Speilberg did an excellent job of showing exactly what he needed to. No un-necessary bullshit.
Eric Bana plays an incredible diverse, dynamic character, who really shows many emotions throughout the movie. His wife goes into labor while he is off assasinating Arabs, but he takes time off and flies back to Israel to see his baby girl born. He then convinces his wife, to relocate to Brooklyn, for her safety.
About a year or so into his mission, he calls his wife and talks over the phone to his daughter. She simply says “Daddy”, and he is over grown with emotion. It is simply amazing to see a normal Eric Bana, explode with joy and tears within a matter of seconds. Not a lot of actors can do that.
This movie is very, straighforward and graphic. When someone gets shot…they definitely get shot. Whether its through the cheek while they are looking at the camera…or a knife through the head when you least expect it. No cut aways, or anything…they are in the center of the screen when they are killed.
My favorite killing was in retaliation for when one of their team members is killed by a woman, working for another agency.
They find the woman, and go to her house. They end up shooting her in the chest once and in the neck once. After a while (her stumbling around), she starts to breathe and blood is realistically splattering out from her neck wound. All the while she is totally naked, although she does have a 70’s bush. :tup:
Any claims of it being too relativistic I think are being shortsighted about its point. The message I got was that violence and retaliation is and can be necessary and justified, but it will be ineffective at bringing a lasting peace. Moreover, those that live by the sword find it hard to escape the life they’ve led.
Eventually they blotch a failed assasination attempt on the head Munich organizer (Ali Hassan Salameh).
And they retreat back to Israel. They are questioned, and Eric Bana does not want to talk about anything…including who his informants were.
One instance Geoffrey Rush, demands the names of the informants, or he will court-marshall Avner. Avner simply replies with, “you can’t, you said it yourself…i don’t work for you” (in reference for the contract he signed saying he doesn’t work for anyone).
He returns to NY to live with his family, and is asked to come back to Israel to help kill off the remaining 5 terrorists they never ended up killing. You will have to see it, to find out what happens.
On a cinematic level, the acting and the screenplay were excellent. I knew it would be long, but it didn’t feel like almost three hours.
So yeah, ignore the critics and go see this movie. If you see it as a rental at a later date though, I don’t think you’ll lose anything.
I would give it a 4.6 out of 5.
:tup: :tup:
GO SEE IT.
