Review of Midway (2019) by Mrmoviebuff — 14 Nov 2019

If Michael Bay's 'Pearl Harbor' (2001) was too pretentiously romantic and historically inaccurate for you, the best thing I can say about Roland Emmerich's 'Midway' is that, it does take a more accurate look on the attacks on Pearl Harbor, but everything else about this film makes me wish it was handled by a different filmmaker.

The film stars Ed Skrein as Lieutenant Richard Best, and his journey through this picture in becoming a daring pilot to save the Americans from the Japanese attack. Skrein is a good actor, whose had many different and successful roles, but here, his accent feels too fake and put-on, it also doesn't help that the dialogue, which was given to him by Wes Tooke, wants him to ham-up the cliched hero talk and over-exaggerate everything he says.

He lives a rather peaceful life with his wife Anne (Mandy Moore) and daughter. The film is 2 hours and 18 minutes long, and I can definitely confirm that the pace of the film makes you feel every minute that goes by.

There are so many characters here to focus on who don't get as many pivotal moments until the movie ends. We have Lieutenant Commander Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson) who tries his best to figure out a way that the Americans can defeat Japan and prevent more lives at risk.

The battle sequences are fine, but the main issue I took with this film is the very bright color palette. There is a lot of yellow here that is being emphasized on screen. The picture doesn't feel gritty or at least horrifying when you take into account what the characters have to go through here.

Plus, the film is PG-13, which is the same mistake made with 'Pearl Harbor' (2001), there is no sense of horror or disturbance. Many of the deaths you see on screen won't stick with you, at least not in the way Steven Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) did.

I understand it's unfair to compare 'Midway' or any other war film to 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998), but if you want to make an effective war film, that's how it's done. Or at least, try to find other reasons why that worked.

Overall, this is a forgettable movie filled with over-the-top and clustered action, some hammy acting and crummy dialogue. I think it's safe to say that the legacy of the people we see here will only be seen through the history books.