Midway

US soldiers and pilots change the course of World War II during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The US and Imperial Japanese naval forces fought for four days.

I picked the perfect day to go out and watch this film, on remembrance day, despite this only being a film I think that it perfectly encapsulates the struggles and sacrifices that our soldiers, and all of the British soldiers during world war 1 and 2 that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their countries. We will remember them. I've been really excited to see this film - not only does it star a great and exciting cast but it is also based upon a topic I have studied before, World War 2 or more specifically Pearl Harbour. This I found really useful and interesting because of the perspective it gave me during the film, not only was I watching to see how accurate and immersive the film felt, but I was watching because war films are usually very good! The main question though, does this film follow suit or does it get shot down, only to crash and burn? Here are my thoughts.

In order for war films like this to be gripping right from the very beginning, it is key that they immerse us in the culture of war, the soldiers and the devastation in order o have a memorable impact. As well as this though, it needs to feel tense and exciting and thankfully, this film starts off really well and gets us excited straight away, the film starts off with a tannoy describing war and a few shots describing what happened at Pearl Harbour. I really liked this, because not only does it help to inform us as to the emotions behind war, but it also puts us in the driving scene by essentially giving us the story and then using the rest of the film to tell it to us. It also just helps to get us in the mood for the film too, as we feel immersed in the scenery and atmosphere of the characters and the film – the tannoy speech also feels really inspiring and gets us excited for the film too. I was also really impressed by the next scene too, this was definitely one of the best scenes in the whole film – seeing numerous countries in Japan having a ‘peace’ meal and the discussions about how Japan will take measures if their oil supply is cut off by the US – this was a fantastic scene because it felt tense, exciting and really enjoyable because the ways in which the characters spoke to each other with a tense and nervous emotion which felt really exciting because we as an audience obviously knew that Japan would attack America, but seeing this tense scene between the Americans and the Japanese feels really exciting and feels fresh to see the film creating a real story by bigging up Pearl Harbour and actually giving us a reason behind the attacks. In my opinion, the characters were definitely one of the best parts about this film, not only did they feel really sophisticated but they were also really engaging too, seeing characters in both comfortable and dangerous situations really helps to breathe some life into them and as well as this, they feel super real too – characters seem to show genuine fear during attacks from both sides which captures the fact that they were scared really well, it doesn’t try to take the Americans and portray them as really strong and dangerous, but it shows them as weak, disorganised and genuinely afraid which not only feels super realistic because of how surprised they were about the Japanese attack but it also helps to capture the emotions of them too, which are captured perfectly. Like I said though, during the initial attack at the start, seeing characters disorganised from the American side, where they cry for fighters and then show shots of American men dead on the deck really gives us an important sense of attachment to the ones who do survive, because the film really cleverly follows these characters for the majority of the film, so we are about to really follow their stories and witness their emotions change, which feels super immerse and just generally really exciting because it feels much more like a story rather than a film. I also really liked how much time the Japanese fighters were given too, as this really helped to personify the emotions on both sides. Thankfully, the movie didn’t treat them as mindless monkeys as so many World War 2 films do and it presents their dilemmas and derring-do quite fairly. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa) of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Commander in Chief of their combined fleet, was portrayed with calm and quiet dignity. We also get to meet other Japanese officers and their own brands of leadership Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi (Tadanobu Asano) who commanded the Hiryu with nobility, and Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo (Jun Kunimura) whose controversial battle decisions had negative impact against the Japanese campaign. I really liked this element to the film, because we actually had enough time to make assumptions and perceptions about the various Japanese commanders, which meant that during scenes like where they chose to go down with the ship and let everyone else abandon, really powerful and actually quite sad for us, because we could make connections to some of the Japanese characters who felt sad to leave their commander – it felt really respectful to both sides which I thought was a really nice touch. The film's characters feel great though, not only do their outgoing personalities feel exciting but it also shows the emotions that many of them would have been feeling during those events, emotions of anger and revenge feel really realistic and immersive, because it makes them feel real and genuine, instead of a film character which for us as an audience helps to make them feel exciting and actually interesting because of the real and genuine feeling they have. Characters also have genuine emotions too, seeing the loss of the new recruit who took off in unsafe conditions feels really powerful not only to us but also by the characters, who don’t forget it and really seem to take it powerfully, which I really thought was done perfectly because the losses from the initial attack seem to really stay with the characters and feels like they are genuine losses to the characters, and this emotion is used for their benefit which also feels really great. By far though, my favourite element of the film was how well it percieved characters in different locations, seeing how they reacted to landing in locations like China, Tokyo and the Japanese ships feels really exciting, because it helps to follow the characters in a story format, which means that by the end of the film, we really feel like we know them, because of the variety of locations and events we’ve seen them through. It just captured the emotion of war perfectly well though, seeing how the Chinese were sceptical of the American soldier until he told them about bombing Japan helped to identify the emotions towards Japan at that point nicely, and felt really captivating in doing so. The characters felt like they were played very well though, I really liked the different roles that they played of intelligence (I really liked the link to the purple Japanese secret code being cracked), commanders, admirals and fighters - Ed Skrein plays the cocky pilot and his eventual vulnerability really well, and by the end feels like a really emotive character. Luke Evans is convincing as another hero pilot. Patrick Wilson is perfect as the intelligence officer who helped get it right because it really feels like his role he takes seriously and shows a clever different side to war which we don’t usually get to see. The older actors like Denis Quaid and Aaron Eckhart are well cast too and Woody plays his role as a leader nicely, he isn’t cast too much here. Actors that usually don't associate with historic roles like Darren Criss and Jonas are surprisingly right and even though I felt a little surprised to see them here, they actually felt like they had some of the best scenes, like where they were thrown off the ship to drown for refusing to help the Japanese. The characters here feel great, and definitely add a lot of excitement, intensity and realism to the film.

Not only were the characters really great and exciting but so was the plot and overall construction of the film. I really loved how the attack on pearl harbour was so early on in the film, and how surprising it was for us, because similarly to the people who were there, we had no idea that they were coming at that point – I liked this because it helped to keep the film feeling historically correct and helped to make the plot of the film feel really enjoyable. I also love how devastating and realistic scenes feel here, many of the scenes involve a large number of explosions and shooting, but it feels really immersive and exciting, because it feels like we are put into the cockpit with the pilot, I really like the amount of action here in this film, because not only does it really cleverly show the disorganised Americans are in the way that they are portrayed as the underdog but it also really cleverly shows the emotion and determination from the characters, which helps to portray the emotions that they have. Scenes feel super devastating though, and the level of doubt over it actually happening at the time is a nice touch too because like I said, it all contributes to the overall historical authenticity of the film, and helps to personify the surprise that the characters have. There is a lot of intensity throughout the film, and it shows how some of the decisions on both sides were truly a gamble at that time. There were no satellites, GPS systems, or sophisticated radar systems which help to add to the raw feeling and emotion of the film, as well as the tactical element to the film too. I love how the film always has something exciting going on too, it seems like it moves from battle to battle which keeps the film on topic and exciting, the battle scenes are great too – not only are they full of intense scenes but the twists such as the infamous kamikaze pilots and attacks on airfields and carriers all bring a really exciting and intense feeling to the film, which makes it really enjoyable and fun to watch, all whilst keeping us on the edge of our seats. I also love how the film portrayed both sides fairly too, seeing the devastation from both sides perspectives means that this film isn’t just one long American propaganda film, but instead it tells a really great tale of arguably the most influential point of the war – and it really clearly displays why America got involved in World War 2 as well. Honouring both sides of the conflict at the end was a really nice touch too, because even though they were our enemies during the war, they were still ordinary men fighting for their country and to honour them was really respectful, and as well as this I loved seeing how each of the characters was based off a real war hero too, this scene at the end where it told us the stories of each character was great, and really helped to hit home the various pieces of bravery and fighting that they went through, but from a film perspective it felt like it made the characters feel genuine and authentic too which I liked.

My main problem with the film though is that I really wanted more from the Pearl harbour, it was such a devastating and surprising attack that personally, I didn’t think that it was given enough time to demonstrate that to us, and from this attack it just simply feel as powerful as it would have been at the time – this is a shame because obviously the whole film centres around this event and therefore it’s a little disappointing that it didn’t get more coverage. There is also a lot of quick jumping from scene-to-scene. Yes, I know this is one of those war movies that look at many players, but even by the standards of these types of films, the scenes often don't hold weight and have that much of an impact, even though it is understandable to include all of the battles, in order to take the audience from the US being attacked, to them winning the battle for the Pacific.

Overall, I would give this film an 8.5. I really liked it, and it provided some really intense and exciting scenes which feel genuinely exciting and immersive, I also really like how genuine and enjoyable the characters feel too – not only do they feel strong and emotive, but they are also really exciting and enjoyable to witness them adapting and evolving as the film progresses. The story is awesome too, and definitely crams a lot of battles into one film, but manages to do this quite well, taking the viewer to locations all over the world and really helping to make this a memorable story. The film also pays respect to Japanese fighters too which I liked, and they feature prominently too which keeps us entertained as to how both sides interpret various events. My main issue related to underexposure of the initial attack, as I feel that this would’ve really helped to show the devastation a bit more, I just think that for such a big event, it didn’t get as much camera time as it should’ve. Would I recommend seeing this? 100%, not only is it exciting and entertaining from start to finish but it also helps to shed some light on an event which arguably changed the war – and by doing so it helps to stand strong as a quality film with lots to offer all types of film fans.

Thank you for reading my review. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review, I hope you have a lovely day! If you would like to check out my Official Facebook page where you can see sneak previous and more film insights then please consider checking out the link below! https://www.facebook.com/Film-Talk-605719843173687/