Midway

I suppose I am on a mini WWII air battle movie kick (The Red Tails - The Tuskegee Airmen) this weekend. This story follows a group of carrier based pilots in the Pacific and the task set to them after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Taking place over the course of about six months, we lead up to the Midway battle, where 4 Japanese aircraft carriers are in place to deal a devastating blow to U.S. forces. The Navy sets up its own ambush and all 4 carriers are destroyed. The writing here feels like it is trying to cover 6 months worth of facts, details and intrigue in a 2 hour film. So we jump all around with IMO unnecessary details. Yes, the motivation for Japanese action at Midway was based on the recent bombing of Tokyo. But that could have a been a line, not a 10 minute segment. Overall, the film was jilted and covered so much that it never really let me in. I was also surprised by/interested in some of the technical details. The planes rear gunner was shooting over his own tail, so what was the lockout mechanism? The fighters carried only one bomb and the torpedoes never worked. The bombing tactics effectively worked out to line up all your planes to dive at a carrier and hope some get through. It felt like WWI trench warfare or Civil War lines soldiers shooting at each other across a field. But in the air. So I suppose I learned some facts. I guess I wanted more.

3 stars (out of 5)