Educates about code talkers, but not really about them; pretty good otherwise

Rating: Null/10 (2 September 2015)

I had heard about the Code Talkers and understood their efforts were important to winning World War II. I found the idea of watching a movie about their efforts interesting.
I didn't really understand how Nicolas Cage getting in a jam in the Solomon Islands and acting heroically contributed to that, but I kept watching. Eventually, I made the connection. His flawed and damaged character was being put in charge of keeping a Code Talker safe.
I hadn't considered the possibility of a Code Talker being put in a combat situation, and yet this movie made clear how vital their efforts were even on the battlefield. We also got to see how risky it was to be a Code Talker in this situation, since the Japanese somehow knew about these people and would find them valuable. Yes, the possibility of the code being revealed to the enemy has a tragic consequence. Many hard decisions were made here.
Although I wasn't really prepared for battle and didn't like the violence that went with it, combat scenes were effectively done. Nicolas Cage, of course, is a Rambo or Schwarznegger which is good for movie audiences if not necessarily realistic.
The relationships that develop between fighting men made the movie interesting.
Adam Beach did a fine job and was quite likable. Whether he looked like an Indian or not, and whether he really looked Japanese (which became important in one scene), didn't matter to me. I went with my neighbors to the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina a few years ago and the campaign billboards, during a race for chief, showed a man who could have passed for white. Actually, Beach looked more like the other type of Indian. But the important thing was his character's pride in his heritage, and the scenes that showed his culture, particularly with his friend Charlie Whitehorse.
The scenery in the American West is great. And the areas where combat took place also are nice to look at.
I was impressed that one of the military bases somehow got a 50-star flag more than 15 years before there were actually 50 states. I wonder when that flag was developed? Still, a regular 48-star flag would have been better for consistency.
If the objective was to tell people this film was about Code Talkers and to focus on a flawed but heroic white marine and show the Code Talkers' battlefield actions as a supplement to the main plot, then I believe the goal was achieved.