Review of Wake Island (1942) by Ben L — 06 Nov 2017

Watching Wake Island now it simply seems like another in a long line of WWII films. It is a straightforward story that focuses on a single event that occurred shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

However, there is more significance in this film when you take into account when it was made. Wake Island was actually a film released only months after the event actually happened. It?s almost a propaganda piece showing the courage of our boys at war and what we lost that led to our participation in WWII.

The storytelling was a bit light in this film, because they just walk you through events as they played out. I appreciated that they at least established a couple of interesting characters, but the way the war scenes played out I never felt like I got a satisfying resolution for any of their stories.

Wake Island is a movie that had a purpose at the time, but since has been outdone by a number of better WWII films. While I respect the actual men who gave their lives in this event, I?m not sure this movie was the most effective way of honoring their sacrifice.

Sadly, I think this will be another film in the genre that I will forget over time, because it left no impression on me.