‘Midway’ Bombs for Audiences
“Midway” was released on Friday, Nov. 8. Set before and during WWII in the Pacific Theater, this movie strives to tell the story of the Battle of Midway, one of the most pivotal battles in the American campaign against the Japanese Empire. Without this victory, the Japanese would have captured Midway, opening the gateway to the rest of the Pacific and eventually the west coast of the United States.
So just how well does it convey this iconic moment of American history? The answer would be outstandingly average.
The film structure was all over the place. Instead of focusing primarily on the Battle of Midway, scenes move from Japan, to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, to preparation for the attack on Midway, to the Doolittle Raid and back to Midway. It essentially creates a slideshow of events from American history without going into sufficient detail on any singular event, including Midway.
I left the theater feeling as if the movie should have been titled “The Pacific Theater of WWII” rather than Midway. I wanted to learn more regarding the intelligence operation that helped uncover Japan’s future attack on the island. Adding on, the parts of the movie that tried to do this were awkward and confusing, especially for someone without significant prior knowledge of the battle.
The acting was average. Throughout the film, character development was lacking. This can be attributed to the fact that the movie could not quite decide which events or characters it wanted to focus on the most.
Special effects were superb, as to be expected from such a large budget movie. These visuals however, impressive as they were, became bland after a while as they were repeatedly overused to the point of excessiveness. I became tired of seeing fighter planes dive bomb ships in the same fashion over and over with no variation.
Yes, the movie is obviously portraying the military, which is supposed to do the same things the same way every single time, but that fact does not make it any less boring to watch on screen. The music of the film is completely forgettable, as well.
All in all, Midway is a slightly above average war movie. Unless you are obsessed with all things WWII, your money would be better spent elsewhere.