Midway

First Hit: Besides being too long, I didn’t like and couldn’t engage with the main character Dick Best (Ed Skrein).

As portrayed here, Best was a pilot who liked breaking the rules, thought highly of himself and his flying skills, but eventually, his arrogance, depicted as bravery, helped to win the war over Japan at Midway.

I don’t know what it was, but if another actor played Best, I might have better related with this character. Actors, from another time, who might have made this role work are Steve McQueen or Paul Newman. These guys had a way of being edgy and arrogant but likable.

There are other issues with this film that stood out as well. There were sections that were supposed to provide a depth to the story but seemed needless. Additionally, the strategic planning of the attack on Midway became muddled.

On a positive note, many of the action scenes were well choreographed and very exciting to watch.

This film is about how the battle of Midway became the turning point of the Pacific War between the United States and Japan. Early on, we see Pearl Harbor being bombed. This was particularly effective and was well depicted with the surprise and the panic that set in after the attack.

The US goal was to hit back at Japan in a way that would have them rethink their choice to attack the United States.

The key players in this story are Best, Lieutenant Commander Edwin T. Layton (Patrick Wilson), who was an intelligence officer, and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (Woody Harrelson). Layton had developed data, with a team of intelligence analysts, that gave him a hunch that the Pearl Harbor attack was coming. Nimitz had heard about Layton’s ideas and after his assignment to head the Pacific Fleet, he told Layton to bring him information that would allow his decimated fleet to execute a surprise counterattack.

Midway was that surprise attack. In addition to this story, there were side stories. One was about Vice Admiral William “Bull” Halsey (Dennis Quaid), who was the on-boat commander of the aircraft carrier leading the fleet. He had a horrible case of shingles, which eventually put him out of commission. There was also a story about Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart) who first bombed Japan, and because the way the mission worked out, he and his entire squadron had to ditch their planes because they ran out of fuel.

There are also sweet scenes with Best and his wife Anne (Mandy Moore), one of the few who understood and embraced her husband’s erratic intensity. There are also depictions of Japanese ship commanders and Admirals, which are brief and attempt to show the ignorance of and blind devotion to the war effort as commanded by their emperor.

Skrein was not likable as Best. What I don’t know was it Skrein or his character I didn’t like or want to champion. Eckart, in the bombing of Japan side story, was solid as Doolittle. Wilson was excellent as the intelligence officer Layton. The scene where he is pressed for the details on the theory of a Midway attack by the Japanese was powerful. Harrelson gave a strong performance as Nimitz. His belief in his team, especially Layton, was well executed. Quaid was good as Halsey, a “bull” of a man. Moore was excellent as the trusting and understanding wife of the film’s wildcard character. Wes Tooke wrote a meandering script that seemed to take in too many stories. Roland Emmerich had an excellent eye for many of the action scenes, but the story seemed to take too large a bite.

Overall: Because I couldn’t get into the main character, the film fell flat.

Independence Day: Resurgence 3D

First Hit:  Could not buy into the story let alone the characters.

Leaving well enough alone is appropriate more often than not. The first film was far more interesting and entertaining.

Here we have a rehash of the same old story embellished with stale lines of bravery being spit out left and right. Jeff Goldblum (as David Levinson) is a key character and has become the headmaster of tongue in cheek dialogue. then there is the rebellious hero, Liam Hemsworth (as a risk taking reckless pilot named Jake Morrison), who makes good on his bad-boy image.

We also have the previous film's hero, Dylan Hiller (Jessie T. Usher) who has to figure out how to forgive Jake so they can work together again. The basic story is that the alien invaders, who were defeated by earthlings years ago, didn’t like it so they came back to suck earth’s molten core thereby destroying it.

Because their weapons are far superior to ours we stand no chance. However, our willingness to fight and will to survive, gives us a way to figure out how to defend our planet. This is an old boring story and, as I said earlier, the producers needed to leave well enough alone and not destroy and create distaste about the brand.

I will not comment on individual performances – it isn’t worth the time. Nicolas Wright and James A. Woods wrote a very tired, uninteresting, and a retread of a story. Roland Emmerich directed this the best he could – it just was more about creating big scenes of bravery and little about people.

Overall:  This film was clearly done to capitalize on the first film and the Fourth of July date the USA celebrates their independence.

White House Down

First Hit:  A very entertaining action film that touches on our political subjects in a sometimes humorous way.

I’ll be open in saying; I didn’t have much hope for this film because it arrived in the theaters so shortly after another recent White House takeover film previewed.

However, this film is heads and tails above the other one. Black President Sawyer (played Jamie Foxx) has a quirky way of arriving to the White House when coming home by helicopter; he requests that the crew do a fly-by of the Lincoln Memorial. This is something that could be congruent with President Obama because of the association of Lincoln and slavery but highly unlikely.

This is why this film is interesting. It gives us a view of our President that makes him human. Cale (played by Channing Tatum) is a member of the Speaker of the House’ security crew, is divorced, doesn’t spend enough time with his daughter Emily (played by Joey King) and wants to get his life together by becoming part of the Presidential Secret Service.

The President is not liked by the head of the Secret Service as well as multiple Republican leaders in the Senate and House. Overall, the film is somewhat suspenseful, except there are clues early in the first few moments of the film telling the audience who the two main opponents to the President are. One specific scene told me exactly who was spearheading the take-over of the White House and to me it wasn't subtle enough.

This film, explores in different ways, the control of the government by special interest groups (arms makers), race perceptions (black President), party differences (Democrats and Republicans), gun use and laws surrounding gun use, computer sabotage, and our governments’ chain of command.

The essence of this film is, through motive of revenge, certain government officials want President Sawyer out of office so that his call for getting out of the Middle East can be reversed.

Foxx is really very good and funny, at times, and I just loved the line, “let go of my Jordan’s”. Tatum is very good as the guy who has been lost but is doing what he can to make it all right. King is sublime. She is amazing as the President admiring daughter of Tatums'. Maggie Gyllenhaal is very good as the number 2 person in the Secret Service. James Woods brings the right amount of intensity and strictness of belief to his role as head of the Secret Service. Richard Jenkins is effective as Speaker of the House Raphelson. James Vanderbilt wrote a strong, funny, and politically astute screenplay. Roland Emmerich did a very good job of making this unrealistic scenario fun, topical, and interesting.

Overall: This film is worth the price of admission on multiple levels.

2012

First Hit: Visual effects are the real story here which provide an interesting view of what might happen during a cataclysmic world event.

There are lots of things that get mixed up and are inaccurate in this film, like cell phones still working in India and the US when half the world is underwater, but for the most part the film is a fun ride of close calls.

John Cusack plays Jackson Curtis a writer, father and divorced limo driver who inadvertently comes across the US Government testing for the problems in the Earth’s core and crust while camping with his kids in Yosemite National Park.

While in Yosemite, he runs across a roving and raging independent radio broadcast reporter named Charlie Frost (played wonderfully by Woody Harrelson) who begins to convince him that there is a huge problem with the Earth and that the government is hiding it from everyone.

Another of the film’s stories is of a Geologist Adrian Helmsley (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who is working with a scientist in India who discovered that the core is heating up so fast that the world will end in a short period of time.

Helmsley speaks with the President who speaks with the other leaders of the world and they decide to create “Arks” to save a part of the human race along with its animals. Of course they don’t tell the populous, but offer up openings on the Arks to those who have the most money.

Meanwhile Jackson figures out that Frost’s ravings are correct that decides to save his children, divorced wife and her current husband. This begins the effects part of the film where there are more buildings falling, waves crashing, and cracks opening up in the Earth than one can ever imagine.

From this point on, the film is a roller coaster ride and it is fun to watch.

Roland Emmerich does a good job of giving us all sorts of fun effects; although some of them not very realistic, like driving through a falling building or flying between the minimal spaces between two buildings falling into each other. However, if one lets go of the accuracies and probabilities, then it is a fun rollick of a movie. Cusack mugs his way through being distraught and brave. I loved the kids Noah and Lily (played by Liam James and Morgan Lily respectively) doing their part to create a glue between the divorced parents in this traumatic situation. Ejiofor was solid as the Geologist as was Danny Glover as the President and Thandie Newton as the President’s daughter.

Overall: Not a great film for dialogue or content but fun to watch for the visual effects.

10,000 BC

First Hit: It was simply hard for me to believe that people speaking English, sporting perfectly arranged dreadlocks, wearing fashionable goatees, having closely shaven heads, and having straight white teeth were part of the world in 10,000 BC.

The film is unbelievable from the very beginning.

I am not sure if Roland Emmerich was actually serious about making this film or if he wanted to pull our legs (tongue in cheek) to see if we would pay money to see this fiasco. There are so many inaccuracies in this film (He is off by thousands of years - the Pyramids weren’t built in 10,000 BC) that the whole thing is simply laughable and ridiculous.

The story line is Hollywood specific: A young boy, who is struggling because he has questionable warrior and family status among his fellow villagers, goes out to save the girl of his dreams. She was taken from him by a raiding party of mean people on horses.

On the way to find his love, he and three other warriors climb incredibly high mountains, cross stark deserts, pass through lush valleys, and walk across a plain sagebrush strewn high desert. Along the way he befriends a Saber Tooth tiger (more footage with this animal and less with the woolly mammoths would have been nice) and some very large hyper active chickens with hooked beaks that were the most fearsome creatures in the film.

They meet some other villagers who had also lost loved ones to the mean people on horses so they join forces to get their loved ones back.

Anyway, you know the ending, boy saves girl and they will live their lives happily ever after – the end.

Overall: Cannot imagine someone paying good CGI money for a film that flaunts history and reality so badly.