Munich
2005
**½
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciarán Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Geoffrey Rush, Ayelet Zurer, Michael Lonsdale, Mathieu Amalric, Moritz Bleibtreu
After a Palestinian terrorist group Black September kills 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, the Israeli government launches a covert operation to eliminate the masterminds behind the bloodbath. With this fact-based story, Steven Spielberg attempts to illustrate that the cycle of revenge has no end, but his overlong and overreaching film fails to convince. The group begins to question their mission, not due to guilt but because they nearly botch every job and begin to fear for their own safety. The assassination set-pieces are tense and well orchestrated, but the climax is baffling. Spielberg cross-cuts between the protagonist having extremely sweaty sex and the athletes getting slaughtered on the Munidh airport. Adapted from George Jonas' book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team.
