Midway

Rating: 5/10 (21 November 2019)

I saw the trailer for this war movie a few times, I knew from the cast and it being directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, White House Down) that I wasn't going to miss it at the cinema. Basically, a few years before the start of World War II, at a state function on Tokyo, the US and Japanese positions in the Pacific Ocean are discussed. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa) quietly informs intelligence officer Edwin T. Layton (Patrick Wilson) that they will take action if their oil supplies are threatened. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese strike at Pearl Harbor. The attack leads the US to enter World War II. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (Woody Harrelson) assumes command of the badly damaged US Pacific Fleet following a shake-up. Layton speaks with Nimitz over his failure to convince Washington of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. Nimitz tells him to stick to his guns in the next battle with Washington so a repeat surprise attack can be avoided. In April 1942, following the Doolittle Raid, the Japanese turn their attention to the Coral Sea. Joseph Rochefort (Brennan Brown, from the Orange Wednesday adverts) and his cryptology team have been intercepting messages concerning the Japanese and their next planned attacks. Layton disagrees with Nimitz, who believes the next target to be in the Aleutians, believing the intended target to be Midway Atoll. After meeting with Rochefort, Nimitz instructs the team to find a way to definitively prove that the next target is Midway. Cryptologists working for Rochefort intercept Japanese communications concerning water shortages and thus confirm that it is Midway next. In preparation for an ambush of the Japanese fleet, Nimitz has carriers Hornet and Enterprise recalled from the Coral Sea and demands that the damaged Yorktown be made ready for combat operations within 72 hours. On June 4, the Japanese launch an air attack against Midway. Initial attempted aircraft strikes fail, and no carriers are damaged. Nautilus, a US submarine, successfully locates and attacks an enemy carrier but the torpedo misses its target. Admiral Chuichi Nagumo (Jun Kunimura) gorders the Arashi to keep the submarine pinned down so that the carriers can escape. Meanwhile, US carrier planes are launched to destroy the Japanese carriers, but it is discovered they have moved from their last known location. Upon spotting the Arashi, the Commander of the Air Group (CAG) of the Enterprise, C. Wade McClusky (Luke Evans) has his planes follow the course of the Japanese destroyer, which is rushing back to the main Japanese fleet. Meanwhile, Admiral Nagumo learns of the presence of the US fleet and orders his men to rearm his planes for the anti-ship attack. US carrier-based planes abruptly appear, and Japanese planes combined with evasive manoeuvres initially keeps the carriers safe. However, Enterprise squadron commanders C. Wade McClusky and Richard 'Dick' Halsey Best (Ed Skrein) successfully lead their planes through the anti-aircraft fire and destroy the Japanese carriers Kaga and Akagi, and squadrons from the Yorktown destroy the Soryu. Tamon Yamaguchi (Tadanobu Asano), commanding the Hiryu, attempts to salvage the battle by rallying the remaining Japanese aircraft for an assault against the US carriers. The Japanese locate the Yorktown, bombing and disabling the carrier. Returning to the Enterprise, Best is told that about half of his squadron is either missing or destroyed. Informed that there is a surviving Japanese carrier, Best rallies what pilots he can and sets off to attack the Hiryu. The Japanese fail to stop the attack, and Best scores a critical hit that destroys the Hiryu. Raymond Spruance (Jake Weber), informed of the destruction of the last Japanese carrier, decides to withdraw rather than press his luck. Informed of the loss of his carriers in battle, Admiral Yamamoto orders his fleet to withdraw from the battle, thus bringing the Battle of Midway to a close. In Pearl Harbor, Rochefort intercepts the Japanese order to withdraw and tells Layton, who then informs Nimitz and his staff of Yamamoto's decision to withdraw. Following the US victory in the Battle of Midway, the final text reveals the fates of various participants, as well as Japanese reprisals after the battle. Also starring Mandy Moore as Ann Best, Dennis Quaid as William 'Bull' Halsey, Aaron Eckhart as Jimmy Doolittle, Nick Jonas as Bruno Gaido, Alexander Ludwig as Roy Pearce, Luke Kleintank as Clarence Dickinson, Darren Criss as Eugene Lindsey and Geoffrey Blake as John Ford. Wilson is very good as a naval intelligence officer, Harrelson chews the scenery well, and there are good performances from Skrein, Evans and Quaid. As you would expect from the director, the film is loaded with special effects as planes, ships and submarines blow things up, it covers the Battle of the Coral Sea and obviously the titular Battle of Midway well enough, it is perhaps more style over substance in terms of story, but you cannot deny for spectacle it is an immersive Second World War action drama. Worth watching!