I vaguely remember reading the book a while ago, but I have never seen the movie until now.
The concept, of course, is excellent. What would happen if Hitler was cloned? Take it a step further and incorporate a heinous Nazi scheme to reproduce the psychological conditions that created Hitler, and you have an even better plot. But what may make for a good read (book doesn't seem to have made much of an impression on me though), doesn't really make for a good movie. Instead we get a rather weak thriller where the audience figures out the plot pretty quickly on, those with some familiarity with Hitler even faster than others. And once you figure out the plot, waiting for the protagonist to realize it becomes more of a frustrating chore of "come on, NOW do you get it?" And of course once the plan becomes known, we realize that it never will be stopped. (I must admit I never had any notions that Lieberman would kill the proto-Hitlers, so maybe that killed some of the suspense for me.)
Had Mengele's plan included the focus on just one boy, with the organization taking a more detailed interest in psychologically nudging the young man, perhaps Mengele feeding him quiet whispers to stir his hate, it might have been more compelling. Seeing them trying to replicate the exact details of Hitler's life over the years would make a cool movie. Engineer his series of failures and rejections, foster his hatred of Jews, that would be a scary film. There seems to be too much focus that just the death of the father would drive the child to become like Hitler. Hitler was far more a product of his times, than a product of the death of his father. Placing these children in prosperous families of western nations is hardly the circumstances that would replicate post WW I Germany.
To me the best part of the movie were the few minutes at the end. The scene in the hospital bed was probably the only thought provoking part of the film, asking the question, which Spielberg touched on in Munich, does the end justify the means? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Thankfully the character of Lieberman was wise enough to see down that road and closed that path right away.
The death of Mengele was another good scene, although also kind of a miss. Having Mengele whine as he died, showed him to be a less calculating and chilling villain that originally imagined. A sharp mind would have figured out what sort of impact the psychological trauma of having a child order an intruder mauled to death by his dogs would cause, and relish his death would help create the next Fuhrer rather than die in screams. Perhaps this was done for the sake of the audience to get some kind of positive resolution that the villain who caused so much pain got his comeuppance, but it would have been far more chilling to see that even in death Mengele was trying to accomplish his goal. Perhaps I'm seeing too much of The Emperor in this, daring Luke to strike him down, knowing the consequences.
Great concept, but the movie was weak in and of itself, and the idea could have been developed in a far more chilling fashion. With the current crop of "lets understand the evil" films on Hitler you'd wonder how this film would be made today, probably focus more on psychology and less on a thriller plot.
OK film to watch, but more enjoyable for the personal thoughts on "what if?" that it spawns.
The concept, of course, is excellent. What would happen if Hitler was cloned? Take it a step further and incorporate a heinous Nazi scheme to reproduce the psychological conditions that created Hitler, and you have an even better plot. But what may make for a good read (book doesn't seem to have made much of an impression on me though), doesn't really make for a good movie. Instead we get a rather weak thriller where the audience figures out the plot pretty quickly on, those with some familiarity with Hitler even faster than others. And once you figure out the plot, waiting for the protagonist to realize it becomes more of a frustrating chore of "come on, NOW do you get it?" And of course once the plan becomes known, we realize that it never will be stopped. (I must admit I never had any notions that Lieberman would kill the proto-Hitlers, so maybe that killed some of the suspense for me.)
Had Mengele's plan included the focus on just one boy, with the organization taking a more detailed interest in psychologically nudging the young man, perhaps Mengele feeding him quiet whispers to stir his hate, it might have been more compelling. Seeing them trying to replicate the exact details of Hitler's life over the years would make a cool movie. Engineer his series of failures and rejections, foster his hatred of Jews, that would be a scary film. There seems to be too much focus that just the death of the father would drive the child to become like Hitler. Hitler was far more a product of his times, than a product of the death of his father. Placing these children in prosperous families of western nations is hardly the circumstances that would replicate post WW I Germany.
To me the best part of the movie were the few minutes at the end. The scene in the hospital bed was probably the only thought provoking part of the film, asking the question, which Spielberg touched on in Munich, does the end justify the means? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Thankfully the character of Lieberman was wise enough to see down that road and closed that path right away.
The death of Mengele was another good scene, although also kind of a miss. Having Mengele whine as he died, showed him to be a less calculating and chilling villain that originally imagined. A sharp mind would have figured out what sort of impact the psychological trauma of having a child order an intruder mauled to death by his dogs would cause, and relish his death would help create the next Fuhrer rather than die in screams. Perhaps this was done for the sake of the audience to get some kind of positive resolution that the villain who caused so much pain got his comeuppance, but it would have been far more chilling to see that even in death Mengele was trying to accomplish his goal. Perhaps I'm seeing too much of The Emperor in this, daring Luke to strike him down, knowing the consequences.
Great concept, but the movie was weak in and of itself, and the idea could have been developed in a far more chilling fashion. With the current crop of "lets understand the evil" films on Hitler you'd wonder how this film would be made today, probably focus more on psychology and less on a thriller plot.
OK film to watch, but more enjoyable for the personal thoughts on "what if?" that it spawns.