Everybody's a critic: 'Munich'

Two stars (out of four)

Stephen Spielberg gives moviegoers a gritty and graphic movie based on the real life events that occurred at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972.

The theme of vengeance is so substantial that is seems to intentionally leave a bad taste in the audience's mouth in order to make the film more of a piece of art and not a lesson in history. The actors in the film were superb, but sometimes difficult to understand. It took a good amount of concentration to understand the fast-paced dialogue in the actors' heavy Israeli accents.

I appreciate Spielberg's attempt to make his viewers think about revenge and all its implications, but the numerous graphic scenes of violent assassinations may be too much for the average viewer. "Munich" poses serious moral and ethical questions that could never be enjoyable to watch.

The quality of the direction, the performance of the actors, and the realistic production are worthy of two out of four stars.

-- Josh LaMar, teacher

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Three stars (out of four)

The movie "Munich" begins with a brief replay of the horrific events that took place during the 1972 Olympics, when Black September, a Palestinian paramiltary organization, took 11 Israeli athletes hostage and killed them. It continues as a character study. We watch as a former Mossad agent is sent to kill 11 leaders of Black September. We see him struggle with defining what he is doing. Is it murder? We see the man change with every action he takes. This is a film about the consequences of violence.

If you're looking for entertainment, this isn't the movie for you. It drags at times. It includes dialogue in seven languages without subtitles. If you want something to think about, there's a great deal here. This movie struggles for an ending, I think in part because the war on terrorism has none. The final shot is in New York with the World Trade Center standing in the background.

-- Mark Koehler, teacher