Enemy Within

Sure the movie is slow its not an action movie its full of suspense and drama especially towards the end the last 30 minutes save the movie, you have to be in the right mood to enjoy this film and its not for everyone but its far from being a bad flick.

First, the Niihau Incident is a great dramatic story from WWII, so why mess with it and change things. I'd give the director a pass on the plane crashing into the ocean instead of a field, because I'm sure that dropped the budget a lot (easier to fake in a pool). But, the other changes are rather insulting, primarily because they aren't better or more dramatic than the truth. I guess they wanted make up the actions and motivations of the Japanese so it might balance out some sort of morality tale. Weird.

Second, while the performances and productions weren't bad per se, it came across more as TV quality, rather than cinematic. Some of the dialogue was clunky, simplistic and didn't work.

Meh.

The original events would have made a better story. The most unHawaiian movie about Hawaii. Everything was off. From houses to clothes. Hawaiians didn't hunt boar with long bows and who spears fish that way. What Nisei speaks with a Japanese accent. It would have helped if the film makers did a little research before the filmed.

This movie is no closer to being based on the Niihau Incident than a Chipotle fart is to telling the tale of Abraham Lincoln.

Don't be making genuine heroes weak by removing their ACTUAL ACTIONS AND MOTIVATIONS and make genuine REAL LIFE VILLAINS sympathetic by giving them fake stories.

An amazing story was RUINED AND WASTED with this film. The filmmakers should be ashamed!

But even as hawaiian this story was it was barely a mediocre one. if you expect war your lost, if you would like some harakiri then your in. you will also find a whole lot of village around the bonfire talking or walking and not much more than that. there are some fistfights between friends , and foes too. itll may have some appeal for the right wing japanese audiences, because it has some japanese imperialism in its hidden agenda.

the acting are at b and c level, the locations and settings are rather like ''your mama and my mama, sitting by the fire'', and feels like a bunch of locals in a theater company joining forces to tell their part of the islands war history.

the grumpy old man saw it and will attend the haugesund international film festival later today