Tooke has presumably met women in real life
but really doesn’t prove here that he knows how
they think or speak at all. They, too, are brave —
frustrated that their men are constantly working
hard at saving democracy but understanding.
(One nicely declares to her exhausted spouse:
“I’ll fix you a sandwich.”) Mandy Moore, utterly
wasted as Best’s wife, says things like “I’ve never
seen you this worried before” and “Come to
bed.” We’re told she is a “firecracker.” It is hard to
believe this film came after “Saving Private Ryan”
and “Dunkirk.”
Credit to Emmerich and his filmmakers for
telling this battle from the air, ships and
underwater (we get to see the staff of the USS
Nautilus submarine) and the images are striking
— gut-twisting bomber runs and pumping
ammunition. But once again, even in the face of
this cinematic and real-life triumph, the dialogue
is paper thin.
“We did it!” says a pilot at the end, after they
obviously did it. Another, dropping ordnance
onto a Japanese carrier, states the obvious:
“This is for Pearl.” “Midway” might be a film best
watched if you switch off the volume.
“Midway,” a Lionsgate release, is rated PG-13 for
“sequences of war violence and related images,
language and smoking.” Running time: 138
minutes. One star out of four.
MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material
may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Online: https://midway.movie