MIDWAY: A Battle That Deserves A Better Film

“This is for Pearl [Harbor]” Navy pilot Richard “Dick” Best (Ed Skrein) says as he drops a bomb on a Japanese destroyer. It’s the moment in director Roland Emmerich‘s Midway that should feel powerful and climactic, but ultimately falls flat because of a script that’s overly concerned with making sure it makes a point. It’s a trend that permeates through pretty much ever scene of the film that tells the true story of the time from Pearl Harbor through the battle of Midway. For a film that comes in just over 2 hours (135 minutes), it felt like an eternity.

While WWII has seen plenty of screen time in major features, Midway revisits one of the Navy’s most iconic victories. It’s a battle full of heroes who deserve to be memorialized the right way. Unfortunately, despite showing great respect for those who served on both sides, Midway feels like a video game in all the worst ways.

Midway‘s over-the-top and choppy script is full of characters that fit easily recognizable archetypes. They have no character development or real uniqueness. Plot lines get introduced then disappear before resolving. The CGI is mediocre at best. But ultimately, Midway‘s failure comes back to the screenplay that cares more for telling and over explaining than showing and letting an audience follow. For a film that wants so bad to honor the courage and heart of those who were willing to give their lives, Midway lacks any soul to do them justice.

Like a bad high school play come to life

War is dramatic enough on its own. Films like Saving Private Ryan let the true stories and horror of war speak for themselves and don’t try too hard. While watching Midway, it was apparent how hard every scene was trying to make a point that was impossible to miss. Instead of getting the audience to buy into it, it turns into eye rolls and yawns.

Dick Best is (no pun intended) the best example of this. Right off the bat we learn he’s a c*cky pilot who doesn’t always play by the rules. Skrein plays him with some unrecognizable blue collar accent that feels like a mashup of something from New Jersey and a Boston accent. It’s meant to honor the background he comes from, but feels like a rich kid at a private school doing his best imitation of a character from West Side Story.

Best has a picture of his wife on his dashboard, which we see in closeups every time he flies just in case we forgot. He says lines like “Maybe it’s because I’m a c*cky son of a bitch,” “[I don’t see anything] but a goddamn whale,” “I never had to [worry about other people] when it was just me and my plane.” One or two of these lines feel innocuous enough, but when every character talks like they’re giving expository dialogue, it quickly becomes tedious.

While much of the film feels like highlight reel scenes of the lead up to Midway, one of the most interesting plot line gets completely abandoned. We follow a group of pilots led by Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart) who fly to bomb Tokyo and land in China. Once in China, the locals try to help Doolittle escape Japanese capture. We never follow up on what happened until the end when we learn he was saved at great cost to the Chinese.

Between bad dialogue, acting that feels as undeveloped as the characters, and an unfocused story, it’s no wonder Midway feels like a drag. Even watching Emmerich get to blow stuff up feels like drag. The visuals look like a graphic novel or video game rather than a true to life war story. The CGI for the first half of the film (especially Pearl Harbor) feels like it’s from the early 2000s and the green screen shots feel even worse. It all adds up to something that feels thrown together with the best intentions but little actual effort.

Honoring those who served on both sides

What Midway does best is show great reverence for those who served on both sides. It seems like writer Wes Tooke did go into the screenplay with genuinely good intentions. He shows great respect to America’s Navy and the emotions they likely had to go to. The film ends with quick summaries of the awards, recognition and importance each character had in the battle and the war as a whole.

What is even more interesting and successful is how the Japanese are shown. Rather than vilify them, Tooke and Emmerich show the Japanese pursuing what was in the best interest of their countries. Japanese officers are shown to be men of honor and dignity, with two even going down with a sinking ship. The film wraps with a dedication to those who served, and specifically calls out that it’s to both American and Japanese servicemen.

Compared to most war films which are more black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, it’s a nice change of pace to see the shades of grey. If Tooke and Emmerich leaned into this a bit more, the film might feel fresher and less cookie cutter.

Midway: A sinking ship from the start

It’s a shame that despite good intentions and great respect for those who served, Midway is extremely disappointing. It’s a battle as important as any, but a film as forgettable as any as well. Painful dialogue, shallow characters and bare bones acting never let the viewer feel like what they’re watching is the true horror of war. The film feels cheap throughout, and with something that’s as authentic and boundary pushing as 1917 right around the corner, Midway feels like a soulless cash grab more than anything else.

What’s your favorite WWII film? Let us know on social media or in the comments. 

Midway was released in theaters in the UK and US on November 8, 2019. For all international release dates, see here.