Midway Movie Review: Spectacle... but loses connect

A still from Midway

Midway
Director: Roland Emmerich
A; Action
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Ed Skrein
Rating:

This historic action drama, helmed by Roland (Independence Day) Emmerich, tells the story of the Battle of Midway, the event that changed the course of World War II - in the voice of the US soldiers, pilots and sailors who fought it.

While the battle is broad enough to incorporate action-heavy drama involving one of World War II's biggest battles, a lot of it seems rather unreal. An early scene itself calls to attention the rather flimsy computer generated craft employed here. Terrified sailors aboard the USS Arizona are shown fleeing from the flames as the Japanese attack Pearl Harbour. But there's nothing there to attach the viewer's interest to that scene. Everything looks digitally manipulated and fake. We never get to feel the horror or shock of the unexpected Japanese onslaught. The gravity of one of the darkest days in US history is lost entirely in a miasma of negligent digital wizardry.

Watch the trailer of Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Ed Skrein starrer Midway here

The American side is represented by Admiral Chester Nimitz (Woody Harrelson) Commander in chief of the US Pacific Fleet, vice admiral William "Bull" Halsey (Dennis Quaid) who led the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, rear admiral Raymond Spruance (Jake Weber) who took over the enterprise for the Battle of Midway; aviators Lt. commanders Wade McClusky (Luke Evans), Eugene Lindsey (Darren Criss) and Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart), among others. The Japanese side has only one recognisable face in Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (played by Etsushi Toyokawa).

The pervasive adrenaline gushing visuals fail to raise the pitch here. The tension is also lost in what looks like a rather woebegone fabricated rendition of historic reality.

Emmerich, an expert at alien invasions, seems rather lost while recreating a real-life event of unimaginable destruction. The lack of character depth in the scripting leaves most viewers unimpressed.

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