Much Better Than Average WW 2 film - Midway 2019

Rating: 7/10 (10 November 2019)

This film comes about 40 years after the original made in the late 1970s, which obviously suffered from far less dramatic special effects. In addition to much better special effects, the lead actors other than Henry Fonda from the original, all do a better job in this one. The actor portraying Flyer Best does a pretty good job of hamming it up and projecting just about every stereotype you have ever seen in a WW 2 flyboy film. However, despite this over the top approach, the carefully edited and directed film is superior to the original in those areas as well. One criticism I did have about the storyline however, was the Doolittle sequence, which really only skimmed the surface of what could have been a far more meaningful few scenes depicting how the Chinese got him out of the country and the terrible losses they suffered under the Japanese, whom they hate to this day. This is precisely why the Chinese investors of this film will turn a very nice profit. Showing the film all over China to people who still hate the Japanese is money in the bank. I predict the film will be a big hit in China, and one of the biggest grossers of the year in China as well.