A bad case of Titanic copycat syndrome

Rating: 5/10 (6 April 2010)

There are some differing qualities to Pearl Harbor but pieces of the film are direct copies of Titanic. The plot is the same: a whirlwind love triangle, set against catastrophe, has star-bursts of comedy but ultimately ends in tragedy. The flying scene between Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale, as breathtaking as it is, is an obvious theft from the "flying" scene between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic. "There You'll Be," the love song for Pearl Harbor in the end credits... think "My Heart Will Go On." A ;ove song written for the film in the end credits is not unique to Titanic, but still, come on, in the case of Pearl Harbor, it's obvious where the idea came from, as fine a song as "There You'll Be" is. Also, and you can't disagree with me on this, Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay made a two-hour movie into a three-hour movie. Why? Because Titanic was three hours long. Now, here's the key difference: every bit of Titanic is necessary. Every bit of Pearl Harbor... not so much. It's bad when a film feels like three hours. There was no need for the revenge sequence, and definitely no need for the prologue. That was ridiculous. Aside from its lack of creativity, Pearl Harbor also has lacks in several other crucial film-making fields. First of all, Michael Bay as a director... no. Second of all, Jerry Bruckheimer as a producer... yes, if it's a popcorn flick, not an attempt at a masterpiece. Third, Cuba Gooding Jr, as competent as he was in this movie... no. Fourth, Ben Affleck... definitely not. Who wrote the script? I hope it was his or her first and his or her last, so that the trash is limited to only one piece. No, Pearl Harbor is pretty bad. I don't think I'd ever recommend it to anyone. But I have a soft spot for it. Have you ever seen a movie that you know is bad but you watch it anyway? That's how it is with me and Pearl Harbor. Maybe it's because my mom liked it, maybe it's because my grandma likes it, both cases giving me a sense of childhood nostalgia, I don't know. All I know is: don't watch Pearl Harbor. Watch Titanic instead. Just because I watch both of them doesn't mean you should.