If I would have found myself in the theater seeing this film on opening day without having seen the trailer or having heard any reviews, it might have been like a blind man leading himself off a cliff. Instead, I saw the trailer and read reviews, and all signs pointed to a flop. So what did I do? I did what a lot of Netflix lovers did, noticed it was free and instant, and all I needed was 2 hours of my life. I won't say it was a cliff, and I surely wasn't blind, but by the end it was clear I was naive, so it was more like an embarrassing. It was like being caught with your zipper down, everyone knows it happens, it sucks when it happens to you, but its just something you shrug off and forget about... Defiance stars a couple people who solid B grade actors who sometimes pull off some good solid performances. This movie doesn't make for many moments of good performing, and actually feels like a long silent war documentary which concentrates on showing us trees and snow, then the 2 minutes of action. When I think of World War II, I think of terrifying action and terrifying drama, and normally both are happening in the midst of each other. This film isn't really convincing me of anything, ever.
This movie is supposed to be based on a true story, but if this was true, I don't know what to think. The things that happened in the film, or try to happen, would seem much, much more dramatic than they occur. But like so many American action movies, they seem to carry along enough spark to get the viewer all the way to the credits. What was the spark? I think the spark was wondering what in the world Liev Schreiber's character was going to do, and unfortunately he waits to the last breath in the film to reveal the ounce of excitement.
Edward Zwick, the director, had previous work such as Glory (overrated), Blood Diamond (solid), The Last Samurai (Solid), Legends of the Fall (Solid)... so I don't expect this director to keep failing on this level...
This movie could have been made better in a 30 second short film by Christopher Nolan... maybe 15 seconds... because surely this film had no need to be as long as it was.
"Defiance"
4.5 / 10
