It is an offense of history that cheapens the lives of World War Two veterans by making a dumb romantic movie out of their suffering while assuming the form of a great dramatic movie. Another factor that makes Pearl Harbor such a massive disappointment is that it contains several components that probably deserve to be a part of a better movie, such as filming a sunset, a sweet performance by Kate Beckinsale, and a load of cool deaths, explosions, and random carnage that would be a heck of a lot more fun if they were fictional and not about people who actually died.
After 90 minutes of an overly uninteresting love triangle and people acting carefree and idealistic, you're actively rooting for the Japanese to bomb the snot out of them. I felt it was just a love story taking place during a historic event. Pearl Harbor's biggest problem is it can't decide if it's a love story or a war story. As a war story, Pearl Harbor fares better. Its acting and jaw-dropping special effects under Michael Bay's direction make it a film worth seeing. When the film moves into its love story, it becomes unappealing and predictable. The relationships between the three are not well defined and seem more worthy of a soap opera afternoon special than a multi-million dollar movie. It was a great movie, no doubt about that, but definitely not a documentary.
As for the acting, Ben Affleck did an OK job, and so did Josh Hartnett. The actor who stole the show to me was Cuba Gooding Jr. His portrayal of an undermined African American sailor who slowly fights his way up and receiving the Navy Cross was very appealing to me. He did it all while manning an m-60 and taking down as many Japanese pilots as he can. As for the good part, it is revealed just as the romantic triangle is getting overly boring, and Affleck and Hartnett are hitting each other, the Japanese bomb the crud out of Pearl Harbor.
Thus begins the excellent half of the movie, which commences with a 40 minute attack sequence that is not gruesome, no severed limbs or gushing blood, and yet terrifyingly realistic. Director Michael Bay delivers the goods this time. His long tracking shots that follow the bombs as they drop from the planes are more than just cool gimmicks. They're exhilarating moments that bear the mark of genius. We're not just there in the middle of the war, we're sitting on the bombs.
