Pearl Harbor

This article was published on 07.19.01.

Thousands of people getting killed has never looked so pretty and glossy. Director Michael Bay encourages you to “Drink Pearl Harbor” as he depicts one of the lousiest days in American history as if it were a Pepsi commercial. Give credit to the special effects department, who make a chunk of this film watchable, and to some of the actors (Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, Kate Beckinsale) who rise above the shallowness of their characters. Bay is the most aggravating of movie directors, going overboard with his willingness to show you how “arty” he can make anything look through slow motion, changing the filters, lighting tricks, etc. The love triangle between Affleck, Beckinsale and the dreary Josh Hartnett definitely qualifies this as the year’s worst movie. It’s long; it’s a soap opera, and it’s a bad soap opera to boot. The attack sequence is pretty good, but the rest is awful.