Daniel Craig stars in mediocre Holocaust film ‘Defiance’

Most of the time, a film has no real plot whatsoever but the film itself ends up being great fun, and a really good movie. Which makes Defiance something of a curiosity. It has the great story and actors. But the execution is where it falls stiff. Defiance has some moments of greatness, but the end result is a colossal disappointment. Which is a shame, because the cast is great and the story is compelling. It’s the true story of a trio of Jewish brothers in 1941 Poland: Tuvia, Asael, and Zus Bielski who narrowly escape the Nazi camps and build a camp of their own: one for Jews hiding in the forest.

Daniel Craig, who we know as James Bond, turns in a rather subtle but effective enough performance as Tuvia. Liev Schrieber isn’t as mind-blowing as I’ve heard, but he still retains the best performance in the film, as the aggressive brother Zus. It’s more of an ensemble film than you would think. The marketing is rather deceptive: It doesn’t focus on the brothers killing the Nazis, but the inner conflicts the group encounters.

Edward Zwick directs, who has done such great movies as The Last Samurai and Blood Diamond. His films tend to be visually stunning, emotionally engaging, but also retain some really great action sequences. Defiance is a step backward. It has really great action sequences, it is definitely visually stunning, but it isn’t emotionally engaging. More specifically, it force-feeds us too much emotion. C

Similar Posts:

• “Robin Hood” review
• ‘Star Trek’ the best film in months
• ‘Alice in Wonderland’ review
• ‘Brothers’ review
• ‘Watchmen’ a flawed masterpiece

Comments