Forgettable 'Epic'

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 2001)

From the makers of 'Armageddon' and 'The Rock' comes...another film of 'epic' proportions with lots of explosions! Now I am aware that the producers of this film did not intend for it to be a historical reenaction of the events that took place on Dec. 7th 1941 (see the excellent 'Tora! Tora! Tora! for a more even-handed and 'historical' account of that fateful day) but what is presented here is weak. As usual, Bay and Bruckheimer are completely out of their element when it comes to HUMAN interaction, especially between the opposite sexes! The 'love' triangle in PH is about as scintillating as a wet fish. The Japanese 'villains' are stereotypically jittery and conniving and they even play 'evil' music when they appear! Quite simply, I could not bring myself to CARE about anybody in this film.
As far as the explosions galore and action sequences, as long as you remember that this isn't supposed to be a historical movie, I would say that they are quite impressive. The Japanese Zero's do look like the speeder pods from Phantom Menace though. There's lots of explosions if you like that sort of thing.