Pearl Harbor review

So much has been written about this movie before it even opens that it arrives on our shores with a great deal of advance publicity. Most of this has been negative. Is it the most expensive flop ever made? Well, reports of the film's demise have been greatly exaggerated. This is definitely no Heaven's Gate, the film that sank United Artists and ushered in the era of the multi-million budgeted feature. Neither is it another Titanic (as much as it would like to be). Yes it is a flawed film, yes it is overlong and yes it is at times unspeakably corny, but overall it is a solid piece of Hollywood cheese which is highly entertaining for much of its three-hour running time.

The film opens with a brief prologue eighteen years before the fateful attack that changed the course of WWII. In Nowheresville USA, two young best friends, Rafe (Ben Affleck) and Danny (Josh Hartnett) fantasise about becoming fighter pilots. When war eventually breaks out in Europe and Asia the two realise their dream and sign up for the air force. The only thing that distracts them from their love of flying is their love of ladies and along with the rest of the platoon they hunt high and low for the freshest new blood on the army's nursing staff.

Soon enough Rafe falls in love with one of said nurses, Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale). But when he is sent on a mission to help the Limeys in battletorn Britain the two face the realisation that they may never meet again. When Evelyn is transferred to Pearl Harbor she soon receives news, from Danny, that Rafe has been shot down over the Channel and is presumed killed in action.

It's a fairly perfunctory set-up. Although they are desperately trying to be Jack and Rose from Titanic, Affleck and Beckinsale fail to deliver a totally convincing screen relationship. This could be the fault of the script but it could also be the fact that they are both too annoyingly good looking to actually relate to. Anyway, all of this is accepted by the viewer since it's not too much on the eye or brain, and everyone knows what's going to happen next.

A massive air attack. Brilliantly plotted by the Japanese (portrayed as somewhat humane and militaristic), it caught the sleeping giant recovering from a Saturday night hangover and totally unawares. And filmed, it must be said, in some style. It's the equal of the first thirty minutes of Saving Private Ryan and is what could be justifiably described as a tour de force. Whatever the flaws of the rest of the film, there is no doubt that the attack sequence is not only the highlight, but worth the entrance fee alone.

Unfortunately, once the air attack on Pearl Harbor is complete, the film takes another hour to finish. We learn that the army landed a surprise air attack on Tokyo in retaliation against the Japanese with, predictably enough, the Lazarus-like figure of Rafe and his old buddy Danny leading the way. This is a needless addition to the movie and only serves the purpose of cheering up American audiences who would have been upset to see a film ending with Yankee butt being whipped.

Nevertheless, it could all have been a lot worse. Director Michael Bay has made his best film to date (not surprising when you realise the competition is Armageddon, Bad Boys and The Rock), and for two thirds of the film he manages to keep the film on an even keel. Despite the lacklustre front trio of stars, there is some able support, notably in the shape of Cuba Gooding Jr, who steals the film's emotional highpoint.