Midway

Actors: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Tadanobu Asano, Woody Harrelson.

Rating: 9 out of 10, a truly epic retelling of the turning point battle of World War 2 in the Pacific. I wasn’t sure why this needed to be redone but I’m glad they did because this is case where the real events didn’t need to be embellished and CGI technology brings you right into the pilot’s seat as they dodge flak on their bombing runs. The plot is loyal to the actual history depicting the futility of the early American failures in the initial attacks followed by the sublime courage of the naval aviator attacks on the Japanese carriers. It was a little jarring to see Ed Skrien with his heretofore very British personae sporting a Brooklyn accent but he carries it off. The rest of the cast is equally good with a real attempt to be historically accurate with every aspect, including hairstyles and uniforms. It was an almost impossible task to capture the sweeping world changing events of the short months from Pearl Harbor to Midway but the filmmakers accomplish this and get you to invest in a couple of the well-defined characters as well. I found myself actually gripping the arms of my seat when the dive bombers started their runs through the flak – awesome war movie.

MVP: Wilson as Commander Layton the intel officer who put it all together