Movie Review -- Midway

Hey, guys. I’m in the middle of moving again so I’m afraid I’m going to have to keep this review short. Thankfully I did find a moment to escape to the movie theatre to see Midway, an American war movie detailing the events surrounding the pivotal Battle of Midway in 1942. Is it as stunning a victory as the real-life event or does it land as a dud? Let’s take a look.

The film begins with the attack on Pearl Harbour. A leadership shuffle results in Admiral Chester Nimitz commanding the Pacific Fleet. He charges his intelligence officer Edwin Layton with keeping tabs on the Japanese plans and avoiding another disaster. Together they keep the Pacific Fleet busy in the following months as the navy’s pilots, led by the daring Lt. Richard Best, wreak havok on the high seas. And that’s only some of what goes on in this flick; there’s a lot of plot stuffed into this movie and some of it is ultimately inconsequential to the big picture. This includes the Doolittle Raid, the submarine Nautilus, and some film director on Midway Island.

Similarly there’s also a ton of characters in Midway and there’s only a few truly interesting ones to latch onto, chief among them Nimitz, Layton, and Admiral Yamamoto. Richard Best, played by Ed Skrein, is OK but his accent sure sounds weird.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Midway is the obvious CG-heavy effects. The Pearl Harbour attack scene looks downright terrible, like watching a cartoon. Moreover, pretty much every scene taking place at sea is green screened, lending an air of fakery to the picture and makes the battle scenes a little less exciting. It’s a shame that director Roland Emmerich – the guy who made 1996’s Independence Day – has only gotten lazier and lazier with his visual effects.

All in all there’s two movies that come to mind when I think of Midway. There’s similar subject matter to be found in Pearl Harbor (2001), which while way sappier at least has some exciting action and characters that stood out more. I’m also reminded of 1962’s The Longest Day in the overabundance of plot/characters and the whole old-fashioned war movie feel. But at least The Longest Day had some impressive real-world visuals.

So what does Midway have? Pretty much the only neat things I’ll remember are the dogfights, the submarine parts, and any scene showing the Japanese perspective. But these are all things that have been done better in other movies. In short Midway is, in a word, average.

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