Surprisingly boring and inaccurate

Rating: 2/10 (14 April 2019)

This movie is 3 hours long! I remember telling myself I wouldn't watch this movie but my curiosity got the best of me and needless to say it wasn't worth it. It was so long I couldn't finish it at all because it drags on. The movie's inaccurate, the characters are bland and forgettable, the writing's super clunky and the story's just insulting. It's basically Titanic but in WW2 which's pretty disrespectful when you think about it. Rafe McCawley(Ben Affleck) and Daniel "Danny" Walker(Josh Hartnett) are best friends who decide to enlist in the Air Force (then a part of the Army) out of patriotism. Their stunts get the attention of Jimmy Doolittle(Alec Baldwin) who scolds Rafe then advises him to transfer to Britain to fight there. While on a mission he gets shot down and is presumed dead. His girlfriend Evelyn(Kate Beckinsale) who's a nurse is devastated and turns to Danny for support which leads to a romance between the two. Rafe is alive afterall and after a misunderstanding between the 2 they fight in a bar before escaping and making up afterwards.
Meanwhile in Japan the navy's planning a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in response to America cutting off their oil supply. The scene of the attack is cool but it's also inaccurate and hollow. The Japanese never fired on the hospital despite it being in their range and as for Dorie Miller(Cuba Gooding Jr.) his role is very limited. You'd think the movie would focus more on him considering he was a real hero but no. The scene where FDR gets up from his wheelchair while uplifting is unrealistic. There're plenty other inaccuracies but that's just the tip of the iceburg. Bottomline, skip this movie it's not worth it. After reeling from the ambush the U.S. finally declares war on Japan and Germany and the Air Force prepares for the Doolittle Raid (which did little damage as depicted in the movie). Rafe and Danny are one of the many pilots who volunteer to bomb Tokyo despite being trained as fighter pilots. After they complete their mission they crash land in china and almost get captured by the japanese. While fending them off Danny ends up getting fatally shot by one of them and before he dies Rafe tells him that Evelyn's pregnant with his kid. Rafe is rescued and becomes Evelyn's husband as well as the stepdad to his friend's son also called Danny. The film ends with him taking him on a plane ride into the sunset.
The movie's not just inaccurate but it's also melodramatic and puts focus on the wrong things. The characters are bland and have little personality, and like I said it's so disrespectful to the actual event. It tries to be the next Titanic and Top Gun and fails. The tragic event serves as a backdrop for a sappy love triangle. The action scenes are cool but they're short and kind've hollow like the rest of the story. Bottomline, skip this movie, it's terrible.