Midway
3 stars
Director: James Gray
Stars: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore
Duration: 138 mins
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd

The battle of Midway, fought in June 1942, marked a vital turning point in World War II as the United States Navy defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy near Midway Atoll. Having been taken completely by surprise and crippled by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour only six months earlier, the US Navy caused irreparable damage to the Japanese fleet at Midway, despite being outmanned and outgunned.

Directed by Roland Emmerich, Midway is based on the real-life events that unfolded over a few days in June that year. It brings together a considerable ensemble against an action-packed backdrop, made with Emmerich’s signature size and scope; yet for all its spectacle, and its noble story of camaraderie and heroism, it rarely touches the heart as it should.

The drawback about historical movies based on fact is that oftentimes audiences know how the story is going to end. To compensate for the lack of suspense in the narrative, the hook has to be in the characters’ individual journeys and ultimate fate; yet Midway features too many characters, all jostling for attention, making it difficult to engage with any of them on a truly emotional level.

The heroes of the piece are Dick Best (Ed Skrein), Clarence Dickinson (Luke Kleintank), Bruno Gaido (Nick Jonas) and the rest of the brave fighter pilots aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise making its journey to Midway. Back at Naval HQ, intelligence officer Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson) continues his crucial work in identifying the movements of the Japanese fleet; while on the other side of the conflict, we observe the movements of the Japanese fleet under the command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa).

Midway has the air of a good, old-fashioned war movie

Add to that the various co-pilots, superior officers, subordinates and wives and families back home, and the end result is too little time for them to really resonate. It says much that household names such as Aaron Eckhart, Woody Harrelson (as Admiral Nimitz) and Dennis Quaid barely register in their roles (all I remember about the latter’s character Admiral Halsey is that he suffered from shingles); while annoyingly, not to say unsurprisingly, it’s the women that have drawn the short straw – Mandy Moore flits in and out of the action as Dick’s wife Ann, stoically holding the fort at home.

That said, the actors line up commendably as the square-jawed and patriotic heroes of the piece: a celebration of the incomparable bravery in carrying out aerial duties in honour of the real-life military heroes whose story they are telling – you just wish you got to know them a little better.

It is Wilson, as accomplished Lieutenant Commander Edwin Layton, who has the most interesting and fully rounded character. It is through Layton’s meticulous intelligence gathering that the US forces learn of the Japanese Navy’s plans for an offensive on Midway Island; and so convinced is Layton of his findings, he contradicts the intelligence being released by the White House. Yet Layton is so highly respected that his superiors immediately take on board his advice to launch the counterattack. Wilson imbues the role with the gravitas of a man charged with great responsibility.

A point in the script’s favour is that it eschews the customary one-dimensional depiction of ‘the enemy’ in films of this ilk. While they get similarly thin characterisation, the Japanese officers are depicted as honourable and brave men defending their country in the same vein as their American counterparts. 

As can be expected from a film bearing Emmerich’s signature, the action is spectacular, from the story’s start with a no-holds barred depiction of the attack on Pearl Harbour. Throughout the film, we are treated to impeccably rendered, gravity-defying scenes of aerial combat, intermingled with a intimate look at the tensions and trials of the pilots in their claustrophobic cockpits, many of whom had to take life or death decisions in a matter of minutes.

Despite the script’s limitations Midway has the air of a good, old-fashioned war movie, a pertinent reminder of all those who fought for freedom in World War II; and a timely one, given celebrations this week of Armistice Day, commemorating the other terrible war that blighted the 20th century.

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