Rent Munich (2005)

Incredibly long and dull - Munich review by DH

We really wanted to like this but you lose track of who they are chasing, you don't know where they are, you don't know how many are left to get and Eric Banas character is totally unlikeable so you are not routing for him.

150 mins felt like 4 hours!!!

Top Class Political Thriller - Munich review by GI

Like all films that base themselves on controversial true events it is easy to get bogged down on what is fiction and what is fact here but as director Steven Spielberg said himself this is not a documentary nor ever intended as one. It's based on a book which in itself has uncorroborated parts and in the final analysis this is a sharp political thriller from a master film maker. So don't watch this trying to prise apart truth from lie, this is a powerful film and its strength lies in a clever narrative structure and shocking violence that makes the film appear highly real. Inspired by the actual events in 1972 where terrorists of the Palestinian 'Black September' organisation took nine of the Israeli Olympic team hostage at the Munich Olympic village. After their deaths in a bungled German police rescue attempt the Israeli government decide on a covert operation to hunt down and assassinate eleven men they believe were the planners of the attack. Mossad agent Avner (Eric Bana in one of his top performances) is recruited along with a four man team to find these men, who are spread around Europe, and kill them. Geoffrey Rush plays the cynical Mossad boss and the kill squad includes Daniel Craig and Ciarán Hinds. As their successes mount up they soon find they become the hunted by the terrorists and some obscure and shady agencies. Spielberg doesn't explicitly condemn or support the Israeli decision to conduct state sponsored murder but he does omit the deaths of several innocent civilians that the operation caused so his intentions here seem to sit squarely on the side of the Israeli decision. Whatever the morals of the story or your views on the real history this remains a piece of brilliant thriller film making and it's Spielberg without the saccharine sentimentality he has often deployed. If you've never seen this then it's a top class film and you should seek it out asap.