Valkyrie  ★★★½

BRYAN Singer may not be the most popular guy in Hollywood (look it up) but he knows how to make an entertaining movie.

Among his credits are four X-Men films, including the two best ones, his 1995 calling card The Usual Suspects, and most-recently the high-energy Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

His 2008 film Valkyrie, set during the final year of World War II, is a taut thriller that shouldn’t be overlooked.

It tells the true story of an elaborate attempt by a cartel of German politicians and regular army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and take control of the Government with the aim of making peace before the erratic and uncontrollable Fuehrer causes the country’s total demise.

Tom Cruise plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a decorated tank division commander who has grown disillusioned by the callous, win-at-all-costs approach of the German High Command which thinks nothing of sending men to futile deaths.

His combination of calculating, tactical thinking and instictive bravado is exactly what is required to convince the cautious plotters that success is possible.

They intend to not only kill Hitler but also manipulate a military contingency plan to support an associated organisational take-over of the political and military leadership.

In the hands of Singer and writer Chris McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects and two Mission Impossible films), how the plan is executed is constantly involving and, at times, rivetting.

There is a particularly strong sequence where von Stauffenberg and his accomplices attempt to gain Hitler’s signature on an amended document.

The tension between Hitler and his leadership team as well as von Stauffenberg’s unease is palpable and Repeatedon multiple occasions during the film.

The cast is exceptional and includes Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard, Terrence Stamp and Bill Nighy.

Despite the potential loss of some authenticity with Cruise in the lead role and the decision not to use German accents, the film is one of the better, English-language, war-based thrillers of recent years.