Beware of some spoilers

I love World War II films - not because they're usually action films but because they, most of the time, tell the stories of true heroes in a very real war. Some of my most favorite films are movies that took place during the great world war, for example; Patton and Saving Private Ryan, also Band of Brothers which was an HBO series about the 101st Airborne. Some of them are emotional and some of them are down right American bad ass. The last couple of weeks have seen the release of two films that don't look at the American point of view but European point of view - the German resistance in Valkyrie (review) and European Jews trying to survive Nazi occupation in Defiance which we are here to talk about.

Holocaust, genocide... it doesn't matter what you want to call it. We all know what the Nazi regime did to the Jewish population; we know how they were treated by the Nazi's, we know how many were murdered but what if you found out that there were some that weren't afraid to fight no matter what. What if you found out that they fought and survived, fought and saved 1200 people - it would make a great movie don't you think? Granted it's only a fraction to the total dead but even if it was 1 life, it was better than 0. That's what Defiance tells us; it tells us that even though being chased by Nazi soldiers a group of Jewish men and women picked up arms to defend themselves but can Edward Zwick make a film that would be informative as well as entertaining? We have to be honest when it comes to making historical films; the first job for a filmmaker is to make something entertaining - first and foremost. We also want something accurate and truthful honoring the event. To be honest, I can't tell you if it's accurate because I never heard of this story before now but unfortunately I can tell you although it's a good movie it's not very entertaining.

Defiance tells the story of the Bielski brothers, Jewish resistance fighters that saved over 1200 Jews once the war ended. After escaping into the Belarussian forest in Poland the Bielski brothers Tuvia, Zus, Asael, and Aron find survivors looking for help. They build a small community to try and survive while avoiding the Nazi's. Zuz eventually joins the Russian resistance to actively fight the Germans while the others stay and help keep alive those in need of protection. Partly written and directed by Edward Zwick, Defiance stars Daniel Craig as Tuvia, Liev Schreiber as Zus, and Jamie Bell as Aseal - the three Bielski brothers. Also starring is Alexa Davalos and George MacKay as Aron Bielski.

Likes:

• The cast is awesome, no argument there. Daniel Craig is bad ass as usual and Liev Schreiber is a Jewish Rambo during World War II. Jamie Bell also does a great job as the younger brother but I was saddened to find out that the person he played did eventually die after he joined the Soviet Army. Alexa Davalos wasn't in it that much but she's gorgeous. I didn't even realize she played Kyra in Chronicles of Riddick
• It's gritty at times and I like that. Fighting, dirt, blood... that's all cool stuff just not enough of it.
• I really appreciate the success story because it's real and not just a story.
• I love the humor between characters.

Dislikes:

• Although it has a good cast, it's really boring at times. Valkyrie at least was very suspenseful even though I knew how it was going to end. Every time the opportunity for something suspense to happen in Defiance came up... I felt nothing.
• Speaking of feeling nothing, this film wasn't that emotional. Maybe Zwick was afraid to do this because of the sensitivity of the subject but they didn't build on the emotion of the conflict. So many people died and the emotion of that wasn't anywhere to be found.
  I thought the film aimlessly moved from scene to scene as if Zwick went through the steps of filmmaking but that could be blamed on the editor.
• They could have shown more of the Nazi point of view leading up to the end of the film because I think it could have added a little more suspense and dire feeling to the film.

I don't think Defiance is a bad film at all, but I wouldn't say it's worth going to the theater for except maybe if your a history buff. It may make a good rental especially for people like me who enjoys seeing war films but don't expected it to stir any emotion for you because not a lot is shared throughout the film. This by no means is an action film, it's more of a character story that unfortunately doesn't come across all that well even with good performances from the main cast. WWII is a delicate time when it comes to story telling and even if this is an alright film if falls short and becomes a missed opportunity. I give Defiance a 6 out of 10.

-Phil

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