By Shane Conto
Who do you call when you need a spectacle of spectacles to wow audiences in the movie theater? You call Roland Emmerich! Emmerich makes his return to the big budget spectacle arena of Independence Day and Godzilla with a historical twist giving audiences Midway. The Battle of Midway was one of the most pivotal moments in the Pacific arena of WWII. The story is ripe for the big screen with sea and air battles all fueled by revenge for the horrific attack on Pearl Harbor. Why wouldn’t a big filmmaker want to dig their teeth into that story? Full of drama and heroics, this had the potential to be an all time classic in the right hands. But what we get is a serviceable drama with solid performances that delivers most when it is flaunting the action and effects.
Emmerich is not a director known for subtly and finesse which is really needed to make great drama work in the more intimate moments of the film. In general, he provides enough of a steady hand to make those quieter moments work on a basic level. The more emotional moments work more from the melodrama than from a tonal grasp from the director. Who wouldn’t get emotional watching a bunch of people dying or putting their lives on the line for others? The pacing is solid for the most part but the almost two hour and twenty-minute runtime catch up to you and the build to the final battle takes its time too often. But boy do those action set pieces really deliver! Particular sequences including those featuring the diving bombing acts are especially tense and filled with adrenaline. Seeing this in Dolby Cinema at AMC was especially awesome as the sequences were fully engrossing as my seat shook from the explosions. Then there is the triumphant score that supports the film all the way through. Too bad that the effects are not always so consistent throughout the film. Some of the shots look particularly fake in front of that green screen.
The screenplay for the film shows a lot of respect for the events involved and the people affected. The film is not overly sentimental nor does it glorify the violence. The film is the kind of respectful filmmaking you hope to see from real life horrors despite the fact that the story is relatively straightforward and nothing particularly fancy. But does that make this a bad film? Hell no. However, it could have been even better. The most impressive part of the film that surprised me was the fact that it balanced the perspective on both sides pretty well. You spend time on the Japanese side and seeing behind the curtain at their preparations and perspective. This turns out to be quite interesting in the grand scheme of the film.
Now it is finally time to look at the impressive ensemble cast that fill this film. Patrick Wilson and Ed Skrein are the two leads of the film and we get the most time with them. Wilson is his great self as always with an empathetic performance. Skrein gives his best performance I have seen with a mixture of swaggering confidence and a relatable insecurity when faced with adversity. Skrein is a surprisingly solid lead who is able to anchor this huge film and give the audience someone to root for. Mandy Moore appears as Skrein’s wife in a serviceable role (there isn’t too much meat to dig into for the female cast members in this film). Dennis Quaid and Aaron Eckhart both get to give gritty and gruff performances as military men. What else could you ask for? Woody Harrelson gives a surprising turn with his reserved performance as the head of the Navy out in the Pacific. So many familiar faces pop up as well as some great performances from the Asian cast members in the film.
This one must be seen on the biggest of screens. An epic like this deserves the appropriate cinematic treatment.
When would be a better time than this weekend? Veteran’s Day is arriving soon so go honor our veterans with this film. Is it a greatest of war films? No. But it is a solid and respectable film filled with energy and excitement.
Grade: B-
About the Author:
If the early bird gets the worm, then Shane Conto gets the “Best Ever Challenge” worm. Shane has his BEC movies picked, written, and submitted weeks in advance. If you follow him on social you’ll be shocked at the amount of movies and TV he is able to view and review consistently. His favorite movie of all time is Mad Max Fury Road and he never misses a chance to get Mad Max into the weekly BEC. When he isn’t watching movies, he is teaching college statistics. You can count on Shane for excellent movie reviews.