This review is brought to you by Kathy Kaiser

MIDWAY – Rated PG-13 – 2 hrs 18 mins.

DIRECTOR: Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow, White House Down,)

WRITERS: Wes Tooke

STARRING: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart and Nick Jonas

Based on the real-life stories of the brave men of our American Naval Fleet, who went against the Imperial Japanese Navy in one of the pivotal engagements within the Pacific during WWII – The Battle of Midway.

I give MIDWAY a rating between MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN and WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON DVD: Moving and powerful, MIDWAY is another one of those WWII films that should be shown in every history class within our great nation, as to share with our children, and our children’s children, exactly how brave and honored those who served, were to defend our country, and our way of life. Hearing and seeing the stories of the men that went up against the Imperial Navy, and to get a sense of exactly how brave and committed these men where was astounding. The performances throughout were exceptional, especially Pilot Dick Best (Played by Ed Skrein), whose handling of an aircraft was nothing short of a God-given talent. And finding out about Intelligence officer Edwin Layton (Played by Patrick Wilson) was amazing too, as his intel saved many, many lives, and if our countries intelligence would have listened to his warnings sooner, Pearl Harbor may not have ever happened. And who better to play Officer Chester Nimitz, who is put in place to conduct our operative at Midway, than the “just a bit crazy” man himself, Woody Harrelson.

And besides all the fabulous performances, MIDWAY’s battle scenes are superb, leaving you with a sense of truly being a part of this important battle in response to the devastation at Pearl Harbor, at the hands of the Japanese.

So, if I enjoyed the portrayals so much, and its battle scenes too, then why the less than perfect review? As awesome as it was to hear real-life stories of what really happened during this event in the Pacific, there was way too much CGI throughout for my liking, as I know this is the perfect way to convey these battles, I just wish it could have been toned down a bit, with more screen time focused on the actual men, and their stories. I also was expecting a lot more intenseness throughout, as Emmerich has created some really fabulous films throughout his career.

But even though I wasn’t totally sold on everything about this film, hearing from the Veterans who had served in WWII, that were present with me viewing it, and hearing them clapping at the conclusion of the film, made it all come full circle, thus forcing me to adjust my interpretation of this film somewhat, as they all felt “moved to their core” at the “realism” of it all…