Review by John Delia
Actually a lot better than Pearl Harbor and the first time the movie Midway was produced, this version by Roland Emmerich is sharp, compelling and an edge of your seat thriller. Even if you are not a fan of war movies, the film does have a lot of patriotic courage, determination and historical significance that honor’s our fallen heroes. The film pulls no punches as it plays out showing the choices that were made both good and bad, both in the heat of battle on the ships at sea and by aircraft pilots.
The war in the Pacific, or the Pacific Theater as it has been referred to over the years, was hard fought. Many lives were lost, actually around 36 million and at least 407,000 were American forces (google). At Midway the losses were around 307 and this is their story of courage, determination and selfless acts to save the most important strategic island of the war.
It’s 1941 Honolulu and on December 7th the island’s bay of Pearl Harbor has been attacked by Japan. The United States have not entered the war raging in China and Europe, but it was a signal to do so. There were many lives lost that day and several carriers and big ships sunk with crews aboard. Six months later following the declaration of war, it was time to choose where the United States military would do the most damage to the Japanese fleet.
While some were guessing, Lt. Commander Edward Layton (Patrick Wilson) was using intelligence workers to figure out where the Japanese would strike. Getting pushback by higher ups, he took the findings of the decoders to the commanding general and they took a chance that it was Midway.
In the sky, Lt. Richard Best (Ed Skrein), a hot shot flyer was ready to work his magic. Leading the air forces, they took the challenge of taking out several Japanese aircraft carriers in order to save the American held island. With a good many being shot down, Lt. Best showed great courage in the face of the gun boats and carrier big guns.
There were many heroes in the challenge to stop the Japanese and the movie goes on to show a lot of the selfless deeds of our fighting men. The action becomes fierce and gripping as the fight begins and never stops, with exciting energy right till the final scene in the film.
Midway has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of war violence and related images, language and smoking.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A well-made film by Roland Emmerich that shows incredible patriotism. (5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Etsushi Toyokawa, Tadanobu Asano, Luke Kleintank, Jun Kunimura, Darren Criss, Keean Johnson, Alexander Ludwig, with Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid and Woody Harrelson
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Genre: War, Action, Drama, History
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of war violence and related images, language and smoking.
Running Time: 2 hr. 18 min.
Opening Date: November 8, 2019
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Released in: Theaters