Midway

I was kind of looking forward to a war movie with a classic cut, a big gimmicky spectacle to provide entertainment and escape, and not be completely stupid at the same time. Well, unfortunately, what I got was a very long and mediocre bore with a crappy script that didn't give a damn about almost any of the characters, overacting actors, and some surprisingly stripped-down stunts (they looked like backdrops during the attack on Pearl Harbor) and action scenes that only had juice here and there. Forget humor or anything fresh altogether, this is as much a disappointment from my beloved Roland Emmerich as 10,000 BC was the other day. Bay's Pearl Harbor is an order of magnitude better, though it's no gem either. (07/11/2019)

A portrait of a major military event composed in a typical Emmerich fashion, where, thanks to the incredibly complex dosing of information, the viewer never loses their bearings and celebrates a famous victory with a lot of characters, who, thanks to the likeable faces of the actors, manage to generate sincere sympathies. The first half is actually very good and sweeping, but then the pace gradually starts to grind and by the end its only played for effect, without the epic flights through almost certain death leaving anything deep to the viewer. But Emmerich has a very firm hand and it’s very watchable, though at the same time confirms that he’s better when he takes things more lightly, as proven, among others, by the most entertaining scene with John Ford. 70% (01/04/2020)

The ideal definition of a three-star film. You watch the central battle – an aggregation of pixels and an abundance of CGI-rendered frames – and catch yourself thinking: I’d rather play computer games than passively watch them. But then you get used to it, and ultimately you’re prepared to admit that the way in which the story is told does, rather surprisingly, have the qualities of an acceptable historical drama. We’re told a rather sparse backstory, which is for the better, and with the exception of the ending, Emmerich doesn’t force unpleasant pathos down our throats, so the net result is noticeably better than (if you allow the comparison) Bay’s Pearl Harbor. The latter was primarily a chick flick, whereas this is a sober and reasonable take on a major event of World War II in the Pacific theater. Nothing groundbreaking, but not a catastrophe either; I’d say Emmerich passes with flying colors. PS: Ed Skrein, well-known for being typecast as a villain, shows he can play nice guys too, when he wants to. Except when he’s chewing like a ruminant (at the beginning of this film) – then you want to punch him in the face :o). (23/02/2020)

I hoped that the Americans would finally come to their senses and make a proper war film. CGI is already at such a high level that it should no longer be a problem (there is no need to create models of historical technology, etc.), but it was no good. Well, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the following action scenes were a nice surprise, but Midway didn’t work out so well. There were only four B-26 Marauders on the atoll all of which were the torpedo variant. I don't understand why no F4F fighters were generated, it looked really weird this way. If there’s anything that went well, it was the casting. If someone had told me before watching the film that Woody Harrelson would play Admiral Nimitz, I would have thought they were kidding. Having seen it with my own eyes, I’m amazed. I would like to give a higher rating, but it really pisses me off that the Americans aren’t able to portray the important moments of their short history more realistically. (08/03/2020)

After the failure of Independence Day: Resurgence, Roland Emmerich restores his reputation and serves up a decent war film that won't make a dent in the world, but thanks to familiar faces, dynamic pace and almost uninterrupted action, it's sure to entertain in the cinema, as long you don’t think too much. Of the actors, Ed Skrein stands out the most as the bold and brash pilot who steals most of the scenes for himself, but Luke Evans, Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson and Aaron Eckhart are also good, so there are more than enough familiar faces. It's just a pity that they don't work too well with emotions, because there are so many characters that it's almost impossible to form a relationship with any of them. The action is very decent albeit 80% through a green screen, but if you don’t mind a CGI orgy you will get over it. I don't think plane crashes and aerial gunfights have ever been so entertaining and gripping, and I was entertained by the behind-the-scenes of the Japanese. There hasn't been a WW2 war film in the cinema this year, so fans of the genre should be grateful and not hesitate to go. 75% (08/11/2019)