Review of Pearl Harbor (2001) by Clay W — 01 Oct 2016

The problem with Pearl Harbor isn't inherently the fact that Michael Bay demotes the Pearl Harbor bombing to the background of a love story: in fact, it's nice to see the director try something a bit more personal rather than a big action movie. The problem with Pearl Harbor is the way this love story, and eventual love triangle, is handled. This is a story that is so needlessly rushed: the main relationship is established in the first ten minutes of the film, not stopping to give enough time for any significant character development outside of very basic relationships. In this, the lead trio of Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale are given no chances to give any hints of personality to their characters, resulting in three boring performances.

Funnily enough, the one time Michael Bay makes a movie that focuses primarily on characters and relationships rather than visual effects is the one time that his visual effects are truly the saving grace of the movie. The titular attack sequence is beautifully captured, with visual effects that never feel like computer generated images and mostly smooth camerawork that keeps everything in check. Perhaps it falls close to sensory overload, with the amount of explosions you expect from a Bay setpiece and then some, but it's a visceral moment where Bay proves that he can direct a pretty compelling dramatic scene. It's no Saving Private Ryan or anything, but it's nearly enough to push this one to the brim of being an ok movie. Nearly, but not quite.