‘MIDWAY’ A FIERY LETDOWN

With a movie based on the historical World War II events that happened June 4-7, 1942, it’s not hard to say I expected a lot going into this movie. But that’s the problem with movies today: You can’t go in with high expectations, because those hopes will get thrown to the wolves.

“Midway”: What can I say? With a budget of $59.5 million and an all-star cast that includes Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans, and Nick Jonas, to name a few, and a run time of 2 hours and 18 minutes, I ended up thoroughly let down.

Since its release date Nov. 8, Midway has grossed $50.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $67.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $118.2 million as of Dec. 3. To say the least, that isn’t bad – the movie made most of its initial cost back just from U.S. and Canada alone, then doubled that with viewing in the rest of the world.

But don’t let the money and stats trick you.

Most action/wars movies do relatively well in the box office, but with that $59.5 million budget, this group missed the mark, by a long shot – with botched story telling, terrible cinematic shots that looked like they were rendered through a 2005 Macintosh, to subpar battles that ultimately felt lackluster.

I went into the movie thinking, “Man those commercials looked so good; so many A-listers (in the cast); it has to be a good movie.”

I left feeling like I had wasted my time and money. And I wasn’t the only one, Ian Freer a critic from Empireonline.com, said in a quote,  “The final battle is a melange of repetitive dive bombing, dogfights, and submarine shenanigans that feels overlong.” I couldn’t have put it better myself any other way.

Throughout the movie you feel confused on what you need to pay attention to, what to remember, who is the actual main character, and who you should have a sense of loss for when they inevitably get shot down or die, in the end.

We get a good look at this within 15 minutes of the film, when we see the inevitable demise of Lt. Roy Pearce’s character (played by Alexander Ludwig) on a U.S. vessel that was destroyed in the Pearl Harbor attacks. We only see him for about 10 minutes of screen time, if that, and we don’t have any connection with the character since we were just introduced to the larger cast, and not even the whole cast, at this point. We’re sort of forced to try and at least feel some compassion for the characters we’ve barely seen because Pearce and Lt. Richard “Dick” Best (Ed Skrein) are best friends and were in the same flight school. We then see the entire platoon remembering Roy, and only Roy, even though so many more soldiers were lost at Pearl Harbor.

Overall, Midway was a letdown. If you are thinking about seeing it, wait for a Sunday or Tuesday where movies are cheaper at Regal Cinemas. Or wait for it to be on digital platforms, and rent it. It will save you money and you won’t have to leave the comfort of your home if you want to go do something else when you realize how anticlimactic this movie is.

All in all, I give Midway a 2 out of 5.