The big screen. There’s something to be said about watching visual storytelling on a three story screen—especially watching the compelling story Midway, a story about the fate of the pacific. 

 After the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a state of war between the Japanese and the United States of America. Leading to June 4, 1942, the Battle of Midway. 

It’s 1937. Lieutenant Commander Edwin T. Layton (Patrick Wilson) meets with Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa) to discuss the future of the trades between the two countries. The United States has been sending the Japanese a limited supply of oil, Yamamoto then tells Layton that if their supplies continues to be compromised, the Japanese will be forced to take extreme measures against the states. The movie then jumps to four years later, December 7th, 1941, where we meet pilot Dick Best (Ed Skrein) flying during a routine exercise with other pilots, just over a thousand miles of Pearl Harbor. Best and other pilots land on the USS Enterprise. On the USS Arizona, Lieutenant Roy Pierce (Alexander Ludwig) is introduced setting up for church with the rookies on board. Moments later Japanese airships fly in and begin to fire on them. The Arizona explodes from enemies hits, killing nearly everyone on board. This then prompts the US to turn to war. Over the time period the audience is introduced several characters Bruno Gaido, (Nick Jonas) Eugene Lindsey, (Darrin Criss) and Jimmy Doolittle, (Aaron Eckhart). Six months later the Battle of Midway is on the rise.

A great blend of Hollywood drama and the clarity of current documentaries, Midway kept the characters true to the event; names were the same of actual war heroes and we get close to a few characters, learning their stories throughout the movie. 

All credit goes to the directors of Midway because it does a great job at depicting the Doolittle Raid, (the surprise attack on Tokyo)  and the Battle of the Coral Sea (leaving the Japanese forces diminished before the Battle of Midway) without losing too much of the actual story. However, as a history guru myself, some of the aircrafts were a little inaccurate, (B-25 and B-26) 

“Midway” is definitely a movie you didn’t know you’d have to see. However, I found the dialog to be a bit simplistic and some may say a bit cliche such as the storyline between Dick Best and his wife, but take the movie for what it is, a fictional review of events that happened leading up to the turning point of the pacific ocean. 

Overall I found “Midway” to be a great movie and really enjoyed the ending sequences memorializing the actual heroes. I also enjoyed watching Nick Jonas kick butt. I look forward to seeing this again in the mer future, showing the heart and soul of brave men who fought for our country and the nations freedom. Because if they didn’t, “We’d be speaking Japanese..or would be dead.”