Wolfenstein
Genre: Action/War/Horror
Director: Ilya Naishuller
Producer: Zack Snyder
Writers: APJ & Chad Taylor
Based on the Wolfenstein video game series
Cast: Luke Evans, Glen Powell, Mads Mikkelsen, Adele Exarchopoulos, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Tony Revolori, Barry Keoghan, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Omar Sy, Bridget Regan, Cary Elwes, Pierce Brosnan
Plot: Sgt. Frank Webley (Luke Evans) takes a few heavy breaths as the camera spins on its head to reveal Webley hanging upside down in a torture rack. His shirtless torso is ravaged with whip scars as the camera pulls out to reveal a handful of Nazi soldiers interrogating him about the location of his platoon. He does not speak, instead opting to listen closely to a pair of Nazi officers speaking in the background. In German, they are talking about the status of a hostage they are keeping at Castle Wolfenstein. This is interrupted by a loud crack as Webley is lashed once again but, after this one, he finally speaks - in German. He tells them he has heard all he has needed to hear and proceeds to break free from his restraints, which he has been working on secretly this whole time. The Nazis swarm him but he maneuvers their own guns to shoot each other, then shooting the ones left over himself. A group of Allied forces storm the camp to free the rest of the hostages as Webley steals a cigarette from a dead German and smokes it on his way out.
In London, Webley meets with his commanding officer in the British Armed Forces, Col. Hassett (Pierce Brosnan), who salutes Webley and commends him on his brave work. Webley informs Hassett that Marie Oliwa is being kept in Castle Wolfenstein. Hassett’s head drops and Webley asks what the matter is. Hassett retrieves a set of classified documents and shows them to Webley. Wolfenstein is one of the most secret bases in all of the Axis’s operations but Allied intel hints that the S.S. appear to be using it to conduct scientific experiments. Webley asks if that means bomb technology and Hassett says perhaps. He asks Webley if he is willing to take that risk and Frank says Hassett already knows the answer. Hassett then tells him to keep that information to himself as it might scare away the others - not everyone is the type to intentionally get caught behind enemy lines just to extract vital information. Webley chuckles and then asks who this team is that he will be leading.
As Col. Hassett talks over a slide projector debriefing Webley on each team member, the film flashes forward to the future as the team assembles in northern France. To start, a familiar face: Fergus Reid (Barry Keoghan). Webley nods approvingly as he served with Reid at the start of the War. Moussa Diallo (Omar Sy), a French-Sengalese explosives expert who is noted for his strong sense of loyalty. Casper Munoz (Tony Revolori), a young American soldier who will serve as the communications specialist for the team. Ivan Nomokonov (Yuri Kolokolnikov), a Russian born in Yugoslavia who is known in the USSR as the Butcher of Belgrade. Webley asks why that is and Hassett explains that rumor has it that Ivan has over 100 tally marks on his sniper - one for each enemy soldier he has killed in the war. Webley smiles at the sound of that. And finally Richard Wyatt (Glen Powell), who will serve as Wyatt’s second-in-command. Hassett warns that he has heard Wyatt labeled as a bit braggadocios. Hassett hazards a guess that Wyatt is American then and they both laugh, with Hassett confirming.
The real mastermind of Germany’s Nazi war efforts, Heinrich Himmler (Cary Elwes), exits a helicopter that has landed atop one of the towers of Castle Wolfenstein. He is led down into the castle and to the office of top SS scientist Col. Wilhelm Strasse (Mads Mikkelsen). Marianna Blavatzky (Bridget Regan) observes from a corner of the room, not saying a word to either men. Himmler presents Strasse with a gift from the führer, Adolf Hitler, himself - a honor dagger, the SS-Ehrendolch, that only the best of the SS receive. After presenting him with the dagger, Himmler quickly moves onto the subject of Strasse’s experiments at the castle, wishing to see his progress. Strasse admits that things aren’t quite as far as along as he would hope as he leads Himmler down to his lab. In the lab, Himmler observes cages filled with out of control mutated prisoners scratching and clawing at each other. Himmler tells Strasse that he needs to fix his experiments as soon as possible if they are going to win the war. Strasse assures Himmler that he is getting closer by the day.
Webley and his team drive a stolen German supply truck toward the mountains in northern Germany. Reid is behind the wheel while the others are all in the back. Webley and Wyatt argue over the plan to rescue Marie - and the reason for the rescue in the first place. Wyatt gets back in line though when Webley reminds him of their ranks. Munoz sees the notches on Ivan’s gun and asks him if it is true what they say about it. Ivan says that rumors are false as he has yet to kill 100 men with the gun - he only has 99 kills. Intimidated by that conversation, Munoz then notices that Diallo is holding a picture of his family. Reid yells into the back of the truck that they are getting close. Webley comes up to the front of the truck and sees the high towers of Castle Wolfenstein off in the distance.
With their stolen supply truck, the group is able to make it all the way to the gates of the castle without any issues. At the gates, Reid tells the guards that he is there to make a food delivery - in perfect German. The guards let the truck in and he parks it. Nazi soldiers come over to the truck and open up the back, where they find several large wooden crates. The crates are unloaded while Reid smokes a cigarette. The crates are all set down in a warehouse. Reid sneaks in and opens up the crates, revealing the team members hiding inside. The head of security at the castle, Belgian General Francois Delmotte (Jean-Claude Van Damme) walks past the truck and notices the remnants of one of Reid’s cigarettes and gives it a sniff - somehow instantly knowing that it is a British cigarette. He alerts some of his men and asks them to bring him the driver of the truck. The team follows a map of the castle until they find where Marie is being held prisoner. Webley and Wyatt silently sneak up on the soldiers guarding the room and slash their throats, quietly killing them. They open the room where they find Marie Oliwa (Adele Exarchopoulos). Just as the team introduces themselves to Marie and inform her of the rescue mission, an alarm begins blaring through the castle. Delmotte informs Strasse that there are trespassers within the castle. Strasse smiles and asks Delmotte to leave at least one alive to be his next test subject. Strasse then warns Delmotte to keep his men out of the lower levels of the castle as he thinks that now is a good time to test out some of the previous subjects. The group gets turned around in the corridors of the castle and cannot figure out where they are in the map. Wyatt suggests that the map is wrong. As they cautiously continue down the corridors, they find themselves at a junction where they have three choices of where to go. The wall behind them suddenly begins closing in on them, forcing the group to split into three. Webley, Wyatt and Marie are forced down the tunnel to the left. Ivan and Reid are forced down the tunnel to the right, while Munoz and Diallo are forced into the middle tunnel.
Ivan and Reid sneak down their tunnel until they find a staircase. They soon realize that the staircase must lead to the top of one of the castle’s high towers. When they reach the top, they find themselves walking into the middle of an occult ceremony presided over by SS High Priestess Marianna Blavatsky. Ivan and Reid try to turn around, but the doors close behind them. Blavatsky encourages them to have a seat, and the two men seemingly sit against their will. Ivan however manages to rise to his feet and attacks Blavatsky. A hulking Nazi of seemingly superhuman strength grabs Ivan. The two grapple, with Ivan and the hulk falling out of a window. Reid rises and looks out the window and realizes that no human could survive such a fall. Reid then aims his rifle at Blavatsky, but she is unafraid. She caresses his cheek and begins telling Reid the purpose of the castle - to conduct experiments that combine the paranormal with cutting-edge science to create weapons to destroy Germany’s enemies. Reid tells Blavatsky to kill him already, but tells him that she has much more important plans and kisses him.
Webley and Wyatt argue the entire way down their tunnel while Marie tries to get them to work together. Their tunnel finally ends and they find two doors. Wyatt insists on going through one, while Webley says they should go through the other. Marie, tired of their fighting, throws open one of the doors, leading to a mess hall packed with eating Nazi soldiers. Webley and Wyatt quickly turn over one of the tables for cover as they open fire on the soldiers. Marie takes Wyatt’s sidearm and joins the fire fight. Webley realizes there are far too many Nazis for them to take out all of them and gives the order that they will run out of the mess hall and back out to the tunnel in order to try the other door. On the count of three, they flee the room. Wyatt holds the mess hall doors closed while Webley tries to open the other door, which is locked. Marie pushes Webley out of the way and picks the locks with a hair clip. The trio quickly enter that room, closing and locking the door behind them.
Diallo and Munoz walk down their tunnel when they hear some strange noises. The two men hide behind some crates as some of Strasse’s early test subjects shamble past them like some sort of Nazi zombies. Diallo and Munoz continue walking until they reach Strasse’s labs. Not seeing any guards, Munoz tries to use the radio in the lab to contact Allied forces, but he gets is static. The sound, however, attracts more of Strasse’s monsters and the two soldiers are soon cornered. Diallo, in broken English, tells Munoz that they have to blow up the labs if the Nazis are going to be defeated. He then pulls out a canister of C-2 plastic explosives. Diallo gives Munoz the picture of his family and a letter addressed to them. He tells Munoz to “go”. Munoz runs out of the labs as fast as he can. Diallo turns up the volume of the radio, drawing even more of Strasse’s monsters toward him with the loud static noise. Diallo then detonates the C-2, destroying the lab and killing all of the monsters surrounding him, as well as himself.
Webley, Wyatt and Marie find a staircase and begin climbing as they feel the entire castle shake from Diallo’s explosives. Wyatt tries to flirt with Marie as they ascend the staircase, but she tells him that she has no interest in some stupid American cowboy. At the top of the staircase, they find themselves in Blavatsky’s ceremony room where Reid is waiting for them. Webley tells Reid he’s happy they found him. Webley quickly feels something isn’t quite right with Reid. Wyatt then points out that Reid’s eyes are yellow. Reid bares long, sharp teeth at Webley and attacks him. Strasse and Delmotte then enter the ceremony room along with a group of mutated guards. Strasse tells everyone that while he will always favor science there is a place in the world for the occult, motioning toward Reid. Reid attacks Webley, but is suddenly hit by a sniper shot in the face. Ivan, having survived the fall by landing on top of the hulk, has climbed another tower and delivered the shot. He quickly carves notch 100 into his gun. His shot, however, has attracted some of Strasse’s monsters, and he is devoured by them before he can load another round into his rifle.
Strasse pulls Delmotte into his private office. Delmotte reports that three of the Allied intruders have been killed, which he expects to be taken as good news. Instead, Strasse grips Delmotte by the throat and says that any escaped enemy poses a threat to their entire operation. Delmotte reminds Strasse who is the muscle and who is the scientist here. Strasse lets go of his colleague's neck and grabs a syringe on his desk, injecting himself with some of his own experiments. Delmotte asks if he is mad, this could kill him, and Strasse says that his science is his muscle.
Munoz is shell-shocked and his ears are ringing as he stumbles into the main banquet hall, which is overtaken with the Nazi zombies and creatures. He grabs his gun and is ready to just start firing at them but Webley pulls him back and into momentary safety. He delivers the news of Diallo's death to the rest. They let him know that Ivan and Reid are gone, too. They take a brief moment of silence for their fallen comrades before hatching one last escape plan. They know that they have to worry about Delmotte and Strasse as much as they do the creatures. Webley says that this is his mission to lead so he will fight the Strasse and Delmotte while the others can use that window in time to escape. Wyatt tells Webley that he's not letting him go in alone and that he can fight the Belgian man. It is settled: Webley will distract Strasse and Wyatt will take on Delmotte while Marie and Munoz escape.
Webley takes the gloves off of his hands and asks Strasse if he wants to know how they found this location. He retells the story of being intentionally captured by the Nazis, learning Marie's location, and then killing his way out of the camp. Strasse doesn't react, instead walking closer to reveal his yellow eyes. His veins are bulging but he's definitely still human. Webley grows quiet and surveys his surroundings.
Meanwhile, Delmotte asks Wyatt if he thinks his American bravura is enough to overcome this insurmountable numbers game. Wyatt says that he doesn't know since he's American and probably can't count; although he can tell that Delmotte is twice his age. When Wyatt swings a punch, Delmotte proves surprisingly agile, slides under Wyatt's legs, and punches him in the lower back. Wyatt regroups and they face off once again. Munoz decides that he can't let another squad member sacrifice himself so he arrives to help Wyatt. Delmotte, however, prepared and jumps in the air for a mid-air splits, kicking Munoz in the face and Wyatt in the chest (given their differences in height). In the corner of his eye, Wyatt sees that Marie is almost out the window but is grabbed by a monster. He diverts his path and goes to save her, shooting the monster right under the chin. She exhales and thanks him but he knows that they both must act with urgency. As Marie escapes the castle, Wyatt returns to point his gun at Delmotte, who is standing over Munoz. Wyatt shoots but finds that he doesn't have any ammo left. Delmotte smiles before his head explodes after Munoz shoots him from behind with a shotgun. Wyatt gives Munoz an approving nod and they follow Marie's path out of the castle.
Strasse, with his increased strength, flings Webley around the room at ease. Clearly outmatched physically, Webley uses any object around him that he can to try to defend himself. He finally sees Strasse’s SS-Ehrendolch honor dagger in a small case on the table. Webley continues to do his best to evade Strasse’s violent attacks until he can get an opening to grab the dagger. Webley then notices through a window that Marie, Wyatt and Munoz have made it outside. Webley laughs and says that it won’t be long until Allied forces firebomb the entire castle. Strasse turns to look out the window. Webley takes the moment to grab the dagger and plunge it into Strasse’s chest. Strasse then climbs out of the window to join his friends outside.
Munoz is hot-wiring a truck for their getaway when the truck is attacked by Reid - or at least a monster that used to be Reid and is now missing half his face from Ivan’s gunshot. Just as Munoz gets the truck started, Reid lifts the front end off the ground, keeping them in place. Marie looks into the back of the truck and finds a flamethrower. Munoz tries to drive the truck out of Reid’s grasp while Wyatt and Webley look for guns. They finally find a couple, but before they can even use them, Marie is already out of the truck and firing the flamethrower at Reid, who lets go of the truck and stumbles around aflame. Everybody gets back inside the truck. Munoz floors the gas pedal, aiming the truck straight for the flaming Reid. The truck violently runs over Reid as the group drives away from the mountain and back toward the safety of Allied territory. The group sits mostly silent on the drive aside from Marie holding Wyatt’s hand.
Back at the base of operations, Webley, Wyatt, Marie and Munoz are greeted by Col. Hassett and congratulated on a successful mission, even if it was one with too heavy of collateral damage. He tells them all that he has negotiated to get them all a few weeks of leave time before they need to report back for duty. Munoz tells the others that he is going to find Diallo’s family and deliver his last letter to them. Wyatt invites himself to go to Marie’s hometown with her, which she accepts. They all look at Webley to hear what his plans are. Webley starts cleaning a rifle and says that he’s not going anywhere until the war is over.
Marianna Blavatsky returns from hiding and finds Strasse’s body. She tells him that it would appear that his science has failed him. She reads an ancient incantation from an occult text. Strasse’s eyes suddenly pop open.
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