Feb 4, 2009 View Comments
Review: Defiance is lackluster
i caught Defiance a few weeks ago, and was ultimately disappointed. don’t get me wrong, Craig is a formidable actor. i really enjoyed his turn in Munich and what i’ve seen of his bond has been good (hint: i’m not a fan of the bond series). the problem really falls in the hands of Zwick and Frohman’s screenplay. the subject matter is juicy, and has all the elements of a uniquely engaging tale of survival. what we get instead is a detached struggle film.
the story centers on the four Bielski brothers during German occupied Poland. the brothers led a group of Polish Jews into hiding deep within the Belarussian forest. the story itself is compelling, but something just doesn’t quite gel. there is one interesting scene of mass hysteria induced revenge when the group captures, and subsequently tortures, a German soldier. strong themes of brotherhood and betrayal permeate the film, but it ultimately falls flat, feeling oddly familiar. it’s as if the film, which is based upon an original concept, somehow manages to appropriate enough of the typical war-movie DNA to end up feeling like a retread.
case in point, during one battle sequence, Zwick borrows heavily from the slo-mo/violence/ears ringing cliche, and it ultimately does nothing to pull us further into this story. instead, it reminds the viewer that we’ve seen this before, and more importantly, it’s growing old. i won’t pretend to be a historical expert when it comes to the Bielskis, but even so, one cannot help but feel as though there are some serious cinematic liberties being taken here.
apart from a few inspired sequences, utterly forgettable, which is disappointing from someone like Ed Zwick (then again, he was responsible for The Last Samurai). if you’re a big Craig fan and don’t mind revisiting war movie cliches, give Defiance a spin. otherwise, skip it.
2 stars