Peps Place Movie Review: 'Munich'

This is my first movie review for the blog so i hope you like it. To kick off preceedings its time to review 'Munich'

Steven Spielberg has been slowly making the transition from blockbusters to brainbuster films over the past 10 years. Sure his early work tinkered at the subject of human emotions but up until "The Colour Purple" all we saw from Steve was sharks, aliens and a sober Drew Barrymore (granted she was 5 years old at the time).

So earlier this afternoon Sabrina and i decided to head into town to watch Steve's latest film. Now from what i have read of the reviews so far there has been a lot of emphasis on the politics of the film rather than judging the film on its merits. It has been a sensitive topic for over 30 years (so sensitive that the International Olympic Committee has made no official memorial or statement about the matter) so with all the history behind this film has Steve finally made the transition from shorts to the big boys pants for good?

He certainly has.

'Munich' succeeds because not only of the usual Speilberg magic but of one element rarely seen in movies today...emotion.

For the three hours you are watching this film the screen pulls you into a world where a terrorists cause and a nations suffering are intersected by a group of five men determined to extract revenge. The leader of the group Avner (played brillantly by Melbourne boy Eric Bana) slowly self destructs when the machine of revenge starts to take over his thinking. It is a classic interpretation of a man thrust into a position out of loyalty to his country yet at odds with the loyalty to his young family. His 4 other team members each bring strength and strong character to the screen.

The look of the film is beautiful as there is a slight grainly 1970's feel to most of the picture which allows the audience to step back in time and be surrounded by the plight that stopped the world one september day in 1972. Before seeing this film i had purchased a copy of the Academy Award winning documentary 'One Day in September' to get myself pumped up to see this film. After watching the documentary, seeing the film and reading about the Munich massacre at various times during my life i can honestly say that i appreciate a hell of a lot more that im Australian. That may sound slighty selfish but in all honesty 'Munich' made me realise that here are no winners when it comes to ideology, religion or revenge.

During the film there are flashbacks to the actual kidnapping and holding of the hostages which Spielberg has tweaked to get your emotional pulses racing. I'm not a big fan of the words "Based on a True Story" or "Based on Real Events" as it gives directors the chance to flex too much artistic creativity rather than stick to the boundaries of the story but in 'Munich' Spielberg has delicately thread the needle of story telling again and ended up with a film though slighty drawn out makes you walk out of the theatre thinking about the world you live in.

That's a feeling that is rare in movies these days.

So on my scale i give 'Munich' 4 out of 5