"Enemy at the Gates" Rated R
***.5/*****
Enemy at the Gates starring Jude Law is very entertaining, although fairly far fetched. Law is Vissili, a solider in the Red Army who is made a hero after sniping five high ranking Germans after a bloody battle that is not quite as good as Spielberg's jaw droppingly real opening to Saving Private Ryan two years ago. A political officer named Danilov (played by Joseph Fiennes) witnesses the event and publishes a newspaper hailing him a hero. Months later, Vassili has killed over 50 German generals using only his rifle. However a problem lurks around the corner. A German sharp shooter, Major Koenig (Ed Harris), is sent from Berlin to Stalingrad to dispose of the young gun. Vissili, having heard of the arrival obviously shifts his attention to kill Koenig.
This results in a series of questionable duels every day. It seems to me, like the two shooters wake up, get their rifles, hunt each other, then go back to their camps waiting for another day. The geography of the terrain is also hard to grasp. It seems like the German and Russian troops are camping right next to each other. Although the question of a duel between two men during probably the biggest turning point in the war is a little absurd, the movie is pretty good.
The numerous sniper shootouts and battle sequences are all filmed very gracefully by director Jean-Jacques Annaud. These sniper scenes are very interesting and suspenseful, and I wish there were more of them in the movie, however, a stupid element of the plot distracts from more sniper scene. This is the love triangle of Vissili, Danilov, and a local women solider. This plot addition is very Hollywood, and very unnecessarily and slows down the plot quite a bit. Other than that, I thought it was a very descent WWII action film with some great scenes and fantastic direction.
