George Clooney's 'Monuments Men' Highlights Unknown WWII Heroes In Preventing Near Extinction Of Cultural Identity

George Clooney's next movie project, 'Monuments Men', is hitting theatres in only a matter of days and his adaptation of Robert E. Edsel's book 'The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History,' tells cinemagoers a relatively unknown WWII heroic tale.

The comedy-drama follows an army platoon, consisting of seven handpicked museum directors, curators, and art historians, whose mission is to enter Germany with the aid of allied forces, towards the end of WWII, to rescue priceless artwork stolen by the Nazis, and save it from damage or destruction.

The seven individuals are based on the true story of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, who as well as were tasked with retrieving stolen art, were also responsible for safeguarding cultural and historic monuments.

Watch the 'Monuments Men' trailer here

Clooney, who directs and produces the motion picture, heads the ensemble cast which includes, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Kate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonnerville and Bob Balan.

Turn to the next page to see what the critics think

And with only a meagre $70 million budget cap, what did the critics think of the upcoming WWII flick?

Peter Travis of Rolling Stone praised the 52 year-old as he said, "Escapism junkies may feel betrayed. Clooney has crafted a movie abort about aspiration, about culture at risk, about things worth fighting for. "

David Kaplan from Kaplan vs. Kaplan also commended George's efforts, stating, "Clooney does not wisecrack in his usual manner, he actually treats the subject matter with the reverence it deserves."

However, not all critic thought the director nailed this project, as several others thought Clooney failed to capture the importance of the true story.

Scott Foundas of Variety ruthlessly said, "Clooney has transformed a fascinating true-life tale into an exceedingly dull and dreary caper pic cum art-appreciation seminar - a museum-piece movie about museum people."

Eric Kohn from IndieWIRE added that the film was, "a tame, affable overview of the events minus much of their depth."

'Monuments Men' is set to hit theatres on February 7th and only time will tell if it will be a box office success.