MIDWAY (2019) – Review

While the studios generally key lots of releases (mainly horror flicks and thrillers) for the Halloween holiday, the next major one, Veterans’ Day, rarely gets a true-life military battle docudrama. But that’s just what’s “heading ashore” at the multiplex this three day weekend. Following on the heels of 2017’s acclaimed box office hit, DUNKIRK, this new film chronicles an epic World War II battle, this time in the Pacific rather than the Atlantic (and much of Europe). And there’s no “jumping around the timeline” though the new film does begin several years prior. Oh, it should be noted that Hollywood has been there before, way back in 1976 as a showcase for the glorious cinema experience of Sensurround (bet it blew out some of those special speakers). And who’s directed this new take but a man who has orchestrated two different attacks on this planet by invaders from another galaxy. So how does he fare when both forces are from this world, more than 75 years ago, in the current take on the battle of MIDWAY?

The roots of the title encounter begin in Japan circa 1937, at a dinner party attended by strategist Lt. Commander Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson). During a conversation concerning recent strikes against China, a Japanese officer warns Layton of any attempt by the West to cut off their oil reserves. Flash forward to that first lazy Sunday in 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Flying ace Lt. Dick Best (Ed Skrein), whose wife Anne (Mandy Moore) and their daughter live in a cottage off base, is supervising the start of church services on the deck of one of the carriers. The morning calm is shattered by Japanese bombers dropping out of the clouds to rain death and destruction on the stunned sailors. As we hear FDR’s “day of infamy” speech, Admiral Chester Nimitz (Woody Harrelson) assumes command of the US naval forces. Part of the fleet, the USS Enterprise is helmed by the determined sea vet Vice Admiral ‘Bull’ Halsey (Dennis Quaid) which becomes the launching pad for the April 1942 bombing raid on Tokyo led by Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart). This helps set the stage for the big showdown against the Japanese fleet in June of 1942, one that could establish dominance in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. Lt. Best must quickly train his young pilots to take on the enemy at the atolls and islands that are known as Midway.

Covering the first year of the US’s entry into the war, the sweeping saga encompasses several real heroes, but the one getting the most screen time may be Skrein’s gung-ho, hotshot flyboy (er..flyman) Best, whose airborne skills match his name. Skrein seems to have stepped right out of the late, late show (the closest to that now is the wee hours of cable’s Turner Classic Movies), peppering his dialogue wit’ lotsa’ dese’, dems’ and dos’, while having an over-confidence and impatience that make Best more than a bit abrasive. But he’s got the love of wife Anne played with adoring gazes by Moore, whose screen time primarily consists of concerned staring into the skies. She does get to “cut a rug’ at a USO dance hall while getting some lusty looks from one of Best’s rivals turned battle partners McClusky played by Luke (Gaston in the live BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) Evans. Nothing comes of this possible romantic triangle subplot since there’s a war to win. Eckhart makes for a dashing Doolittle even as he has to contend with wary Chinese locals after he bails out of his fighter. Wilson takes a break from researching spooks in THE CONJURING series and spin-offs to bring an academic spin (he’s got the apropos eyeglasses) on the battleplans as Layton. Quaid plays Halsey as a glaring, growling old “sea dog”, who is frustrated by his frailties (that #*% rash!), while Harrelson balances gravitas and a subtle sense of humor as the burdened Nimitz. And for the “youngsters” dreamy pop star Nick Jonas gets a break from his brothers as the burly sailor who leaps into action while sporting a swell Clark Gable ‘stache.

Director Roland Emmerich once again proves his knack for big bombastic battles utilizing the latest in CGI effects to make us feel that we’re right on deck as the bombers swarm the skies of Pearl. The same goes when we’re strapped in with the diving pilots as they seem to pull up with just a few feet to spare just as they release their “lethal load’ all while twirling through never-ending streams of artillery fire (looking like yellow glowing gnats). It’s pretty harrowing as the superb editing by Adam Wolfe gives us a “front-row seat” briskly going from the long shots to the commanders to the men twirling about in those cramped cockpits. Unfortunately, the dazzling visuals make the battle interludes rather dull as actors race in and out of rooms, laying out maps, and reciting some awkward exposition. Unlike the ’76 version there’s no turgid “forbidden romance” subplot to slow things to a crawl, but there’s not much in the way of human drama in this first feature film script from Wes Tooke. He does take us behind the closed doors of the enemy, but their restrained in-fighting feels more like political and personal squabbles in an office rather than “empire-makers”. And I’ll give him kudos for the subplot involving one of the titans of cinema. The period costumes, hairstyles, and auto look terrific thanks to the “Norman Rockwell” glow of Robby Baumgartner’s cinematography. And since it’s a period piece, the producers found the right balance in the depiction of tobacco use (in some flicks nobody’s puffing away while in others the smokey haze nearly obscures the actors). MIDWAY uses the newest tech to honor “the greatest generation”, but the writing doesn’t truly bring history to emotional life.

2 out of 4