Midway - Für die Freiheit

Abundant, not-quite-realistic computer-generated images make Midway look more like a video game than a depiction of real-life events. The overuse of subpar effects is the most dominant - but hardly the only - problem dogging this film. Epic war stories are difficult to tell without focusing on a few characters. This film unsuccessfully juggles too many plot threads and too many characters to keep an emotional anchor to the simulated events unfolding. Woody Harrelson is outstanding, but other cast members cannot overcome the limitations of the material and the challenges of acting on computer-generated sets.

Midway feels like a made-for-TV movie. It's full of cliched dialogue, acting, and plot points. When most of your movie hinges on the lead actor's performance, and that performance turns out to be melodramatic and cheesy, you've got a problem. Also, the visual effects were inconsistent, swinging from impressive to corny. This isn't a bad movie, but it's going to be easy for me to forget about it.

I'm just coming from the cinema, Midway is a worth to see movie, but the filmmakers used a bit too much CGI, sometimes you feel like watching a Medal of Honor game trailer.

Midway is not just the name of the place where a historic WWII sea battle took place between the Americans and the Japanese, it's also the point in this film where I realised I didn't know what was going on. Director Roland Emmerich (Godzilla, Independence Day, 2012) is obviously no slouch when it comes to action scenes, bringing us some truly astonishing battle sequences that provide much bang for your buck, but he struggles to tell his complex historical story with any coherence.

As the movie cuts back and forth between the American and Japanese forces, with numerous ships, locations, characters, and much detailed wartime strategy to take in, it's easy to lose track of what's what and, more importantly, who is who, making it hard to feel anything when they meet their inevitable fate in a ball of flames and twisted metal (the most emotional part of the whole film comes right at the end when photos with captions show the real-life people who were instrumental in the battle).

Of course, those who are watching, not for a history lesson or for heart-rending pathos, but for thrilling scenes of destruction and derring-do, are more than catered for with countless huge explosions, plenty of machine-gun fire and loads of impressive aerial combat. While most of this is realised through the use of CGI, it's well-handled and, for the most part, very convincing.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

This film is a straightforward retelling of the events in the first months of the War in the Pacific beginning with Pearl Harbor and culminating in the Battle of Midway (June 1942). In between, it also touched on Doolittle's Raid on Tokyo (April 1942) and the Battle of Coral Sea (May 1942). The story was told mainly from the point of view of two American soldiers, namely pilot Lt. Dick Best (Ed Skrein) who led his dive bomber squadron at Midway, and intelligence officer Lt. Comm. Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson) who with his code-breaker team predicted the Midway attack.

Along the way, we meet other famous American soldiers: 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; Best's fellow aviators Lt. Comm. Wade McClusky (Luke Evans), Lt. Comm. Eugene Lindsey (Darren Criss) and Lt. Comm. Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart); cryptographer Commander Joseph Rochefort (Brennan Brown) and Aviation Machinist Mate Bruno Gaido (Nick Jonas).

The side of the Japanese Imperial Army and their unique military culture were also given fair screen time in this film. 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.

The execution of the critical battle scenes are the main draws to watch this film. Director Roland Emmerich will always be remembered as the man who brought us "Independence Day" (1996) and "2012" (2009). Of course, there are big explosions and massive destruction here as well. The massive scenes showing fiery exploding seacraft and aircraft were rendered with crisp cinematography and meticulous visual effects to create impressive screen spectacles. The aviation scenes, particularly the dive bomber runs by Dick Best, were excellently staged, shot and edited to elicit an exhilarating rush.

For its 2 hours 18 minute run, the story of the crucial naval battles and the heroism of its real-life protagonists were front and center here in "Midway." There were no fictional characters or cheesy love stories like in the first "Midway" film or "Pearl Harbor." While seeing some popular young actors like Criss or Jonas can be distracting, the all-star cast generally rendered honor and respect to the heroes they portrayed. Focusing on soldiers of lesser rank allowed for some intimate personal drama in actual battle situations, perhaps with not much depth as possible. As this movie is rated PG, so do not expect to see graphic injuries at the level of "Saving Private Ryan."