Munich

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

After being kept under more wraps than Michael Jackson's face, Steven Spielberg’s politically-charged Munich has finally seen the light of day—and it's not nearly as attractive as people had hoped. Munich is too muddled and relentlessly violent to register as anything other than a confusing disappointment. Shot immediately after he finished his summer blockbuster, War Of The Worlds, and rushed into release for Oscar consideration, the director should have taken more time to get it right. Using the massacre of the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympics as a jumping-off point, the film purports to tell the true story of the elite Israeli squad sent off to wreak revenge for the horrific crime. The big problem is that once the Israelis start bumping off the 11 terrorists, you immediately start wondering how long this movie is going to last. And at 2 hours and 40 minutes, it’s an eternity. Spielberg and his writers also seem to want to have it both ways, presenting strong justification for the Israeli actions, as well as providing a platform for the Palestinian position. Like real life, Munich gets mired in the muck of a near-impossible political situation and can’t seem to dig itself out with any clear point of view.