Up, Up and Away to 'Midway'

BY: GABBIE K

Director Roland Emmerich and others working with him released a historical movie called Midway on November 8, 2019. The movie depicts the Battle of Midway which occurred on June 4, 1942, during World War II six months after on December 7, 1941, when Japanese air forces launched an attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. naval base found in Hawaii. On that day, June 4, 1942, the Japanese navy planned another strike on American ships found in the Pacific Ocean. The movie follows that day, and the three days after that follow, in which the U.S. Navy and a group of American fighter pilots strike back against the Japanese. This attack made by the U.S. Navy and the group of fighter pilots would go down as easily one of the most important battles fought during World War II.

It’s no surprise that many well-known actors are found within this movie, such as Mandy Moore as Anne Best (most known for her lead role as Jamie in A Walk to Remember), Darren Criss as Eugene Lindsey (most known for his roles as Blaine in Glee and Andrew Cunanan in American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace), Nick Jonas as Bruno (most known for playing in the former band, The Jonas Brothers, with his brothers and as a solo artist himself), Ed Skrein as Dick Best (most known as a rapper and for his role as Daario Naharis in the third season of Game of Thrones), Woody Harrelson as Chester W. Nimitz (most known for his role as a character named Woody Boyd on an NBC sitcom called Cheers), Patrick Wilson as Edwin Layton (most known as a star on Broadway), and Dennis Quaid as William “Bull” Halsey (most known for starring in movies such as The Parent Trap and The Rookie). Having actors and an actress like the people mentioned helped immensely with the sale of tickets for the movie.

So far, the movie has made $118.8 million according to the box office, while the budget of the movie itself was $100 million alone. The movie has also earned 43% rotten tomatoes and a 4.4 out of 5 stars for the audience rating summary. Critics, however, are a bit extreme in rating the movie when it comes to their viewpoints. While some are decent, such as the one from Variety, written by Owen Gleiberman, which states: “The film’s drama is B-movie basic, but the destructive colliding metal-on-metal inferno of what war is makes “Midway” a picture worth seeing.” Other critics, well, they weren’t so nice. Joyce Slaton from Common Sense Media states: “Overly long and overstuffed with both characters and battle scenes, this film (based on the same-named 1976 movie) clearly has its heart in the right place, but it’s not much fun to watch.”

However, through all of the critics and comments made in an attempt to degrade the movie, I loved it overall. I may be biased, especially considering the fact that Darren Criss is my favorite actor and Mandy Moore is one of my favorite actresses, but I absolutely loved the cast in this movie and the way they portrayed their characters. And of course, when the end credits show after a movie based on a true story, I can’t help but tear up when they show the actual people the cast portrayed within the movie. The ending alone was worth the watch. If you’re a history geek like me, you can’t miss this movie. I can easily give the movie four out of five stars.