Movie Breakdown: Midway

Pre-Screening Ramble:

For every Stargate, Independence Day or The Day After Tomorrow, Roland Emmerich also has a Godzilla, 10,000 BC or 2012.  So, I’m not sure what to expect from Midway.

Post-Screening Ramble:

I didn’t think that there was anyone on this planet who wanted more of Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, but someone did, and that person is Roland Emmerich.  Like Bay’s garbage heap back in 2001, Midway is far too long, overly cluttered and not at all engaging.  It’s a war movie for people with no interest in seeing a war movie.  Characters do not casually converse, they’re only allowed to spout the sort of grand, heroic statements that will make you wonder if they’re going to turn into an eagle and then fly off into battle.  The plot is short on useful information, but there’s always a lot happening on the screen.  I saw so many dates, locations and squadron names, but they’re presented without much context or lead up, so who knows if any of it was actually important.  The battle scenes are fine, but they’re a little hard to follow and not quite near as exciting as they should be.  In the end, the only redeeming thing about Midway was my realization that Ed Skrein’s character’s name was actually Dick Best, which is just funny (doubly so because he was a real person).

If you’re curious about Midway and everything that happened, just read the Wiki page for it.  You’ll get more out of it and you won’t need to spend two and a half hours watching a movie so useless that you’ll just end up going home and reading the Wiki page anyways.

One Last Thought:

There are multiple points in this film where there’s so much half-assed CG zipping around that you’ll be certain you’re watching a cut scene from a video game.

One More Last Thought:

Pearl Harbor and Midway are destined to end up on one of those double feature blu-ray discs that are available in a bin at Walmart for $5.