The story of the Battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the sailors who fought it.
“Midway” starts off as a history lesson and ends up as a transformation of insight into several pages in the diary of a group of relentless soldiers who almost had as much to prove to themselves as they did to the country they represented. The Battle of the Midway, which happened in June of 1942, six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, shows the true grit and grime displayed by tough-as-nails soldiers, who were motivated by their own fears in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The story, based on true facts, shows the human side of war and the integral coordination of activities that lead to a stronghold involving U.S. Intelligence Operations and weary but fearless young soldiers who had to balance their trust between Officers who were supposed to lead with courage and integrity, and an entirely different set of code breakers who operated by instinct.
Director Roland Emmerich did a yeoman’s job of preparing for this film with an outstanding cast and a hell of a lot of desire and consummate research that covered a span of over twenty years. His dedication and commitment to sharing the stories of bravery and fortitude amongst the soldiers who seemed to have been ill-prepared for the journey, yet overzealous in their desire to make their leaders happy with their performance. With several different storylines, Ed Skrein, in the role of Dick Best and Luke Kleintank who played his mentee Clarence Dickinson, seemed to struggle valiantly with keeping peace at home as well as being able to maintain their friendship through flexible leadership and dare-devil antics that would cost them their integrity and zest for life.
Several highlights of the film include star-studded performances by Dick Best, Luke Kleintank, Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson), Chester W. Nimitz (Woody Harrelson), Bruno Gaido (Nick Jonas), Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart) Wade McClusky (Luke Evans) ), Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa) and Tamon Yamaguchi (Tadanobu Asano), as well as outstanding cinematography which showcased realistic air formations and nosedives which at the same time captured the essence of fear and the thrill of victory in the pilot’s faces as well as the moods of the families that had to carry the brunt of the impact of war on their loved ones. Mandy Moore was excellent in her role as Ann Best, a wife and mother who needed her husband/soldier, Dick Best, to understand there should be something left at the end of the day other than mindless defeat and misconstrued opportunity. Even more interesting was an impressionable look at the mindset of the Japanese and how they operated based on a foundation of historical approaches that no longer served them best.
The entire film was wildly entertaining and extremely educational with regard to the excruciating details of every decision that was made for the young soldiers to operate fearlessly and graciously while being better positioned and highly equipped to deal with their own shortcomings while conquering the enemy in order to achieve an American victory and to go on and lead impactful lives in the years to come based on their experiences.
In theaters Friday, November 8th
