In December 1941, Czech soldiers Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš parachute into their occupied homeland to assassinate Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich.
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Reviews
CinemaSerf
6
By CinemaSerf
This is a competent remake of the 1975 "Operation Daybreak" film that tells the story of the assassination of Hitler's Czech leader Reinhard Heydrich. It's fair to say that this man was a pretty ghastly individual, behind much of the Nazi's policies of extermination and answerable only to Himmler and the Führer in the grand scheme of things. "Kubis" (Jamie Dornan) and "Gabcik" (Cillian Murphy) have been sent by the government in exile in London to kill this relatively poorly protected man, but their arrival causes considerable consternation amongst the local resistance. They fear, all too realistically, the impact that any attempt on Heydrich's life will have on the local population. Entire villages are likely to be wiped out and wholesale slaughter will certainly ensue. Their question is: is this just one act too far or is it just the message they want to send to prove they are not yet under the SS jackboot. It's a well crafted if a little slow iteration of this story of courage and I wasn't really sold on the two lead performances. They are adequate enough but somehow the sense of menace isn't as developed or palpable as with the frankly much more potent version from the mid 1970s. The conclusion is history, so there's not much room for Sean Ellis to manoeuvre, but he does manage to use a solid supporting cast to capture the determination of a population that realises more - and greater - sacrifices must be made if they are to regain their freedom. The film looks great, plenty of attention to detail and some fine Prague photography but it is just a little sterile for me. Worth a watch, though - just not great.
