The first thing Roland Emmerich should do after his latest movie "Midway" hits theaters is apologize.
Apologize to the visual effects crew, the stuntmen, the carpenters, the costumers and artists. He has squandered their considerable visual skill in retelling the crucial World War II battle at Midway by melding some of the best action sequences in years with the most banal of words.
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This image released by Lionsgate shows Ed Skrein, left, and Mandy Moore in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Keean Johnson, left, and Ed Skrein in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Hiromoto Ida, left, and Hiroaki Shintani in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Ed Skrein, left, and Luke Kleintank in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Mandy Moore, left, and Ed Skrein in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Luke Kleintank, foreground left, and Ed Skrein in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
What's the point of scouring 1941 Navy regulations to ground the real-life characters in authentic military gear if they say stuff like this: "I guess every battle needs a miracle."
This image released by Lionsgate shows Ed Skrein, left, and Mandy Moore in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
What's the point of locating the original blueprints of a gun, and then carefully recreating it, if the script calls for an airman to tell his pilot: "You fly like you don't care if we come home."
Emmerich has turned "Midway " into another of his films, "Independence Day," which was cartoony but worked because we knew it was over the top. Here, the director has taken real, living men who acted heroically and turned them into pulp comic strip characters. He might need to apologize to them the most.
Screenwriter Wes Tooke has apparently never seen a cliche he didn't want to embrace. His script is as textured and nuanced as an upbeat newsreel from the '40s. No, there's no young G.I nicknamed Brooklyn, but there are hotshot flyboys who stick their chewing gum next to a photo of their wives in the cockpit during dogfights.
This image released by Lionsgate shows Keean Johnson, left, and Ed Skrein in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
Tooke's one-dimensional characters help the plot along by stating only the very obvious, like "If we lose, we lose the Pacific" and "This place is a powder keg." (Keep that last one in mind; stuff will blow up and it will be called foreshadowing.)
The Battle of Midway took place between June 4-7, 1942, and pitted Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, architect of the raid on Pearl Harbor, against U.S. Navy Adm. Chester Nimitz. The U.S. had been stung by the sneak attack in Hawaii and were underdogs in the Pacific.
But the U.S. Navy, having cracked Japan's code system, anticipated Japanese naval movements and gained the upper hand. The battle ended Japan's aspirations of naval dominance in the Pacific and showed the Allies that victory was possible.
This image released by Lionsgate shows Hiromoto Ida, left, and Hiroaki Shintani in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
Like its cousin in WW II filmed failure, the Ben Affleck-led "Pearl Harbor," Emmerich has decided to tell this sprawling story using multiple characters, including showing the Japanese side. Hint: Everyone is brave.
In the actual battle theater are the brave, bad-boy bomber pilot Dick Best (Ed Skrein), the brave but more cautious Clarence Dickinson (Luke Kleintank), the downhome brave Admiral William "Bull" Halsey (Dennis Quaid), the swaggeringly brave Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart) and the brave and cocksure Bruno Gaido (a mustachioed Nick Jonas, reaching the very limits of his acting skills).
You can instantly tell why these actors signed up. Jonas gets to shoot an anti-aircraft artillery gun at a plunging Japanese Zero and prove his courage. "That was the bravest damn thing I've ever seen. What's your name, son?" an awed officer says. Skrein, as Best, gets to be a daredevil pilot who is admired by everyone. "Men like Dick Best are the reason we're gonna win this war," says one awed pilot. Eckhart gets to strut about in a leather flying jacket and look awesome.
This image released by Lionsgate shows Ed Skrein, left, and Luke Kleintank in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
Onshore there are the brave intelligence officer Edwin Layton (Patrick Wilson) and the brave outside-the-box Nimitz (Woody Harrelson). The Japanese are elegant, contained and brave, too, especially Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa) and Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi (Tadanobu Asano).
Tooke has presumably met women in real life but really doesn't prove here that he knows how they think or speak at all. They, too, are brave — frustrated that their men are constantly working hard at saving democracy but understanding. (One nicely declares to her exhausted spouse: "I'll fix you a sandwich.") Mandy Moore, utterly wasted as Best's wife, says things like "I've never seen you this worried before" and "Come to bed." We're told she is a "firecracker."
Credit to Emmerich and his filmmakers for telling this battle from the air, ships and underwater (we get to see the staff of the USS Nautilus submarine) and the images are striking — gut-twisting bomber runs and pumping ammunition. But once again, even in the face of this cinematic and real-life triumph, the dialogue is paper thin.
This image released by Lionsgate shows Mandy Moore, left, and Ed Skrein in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
"We did it!" says a pilot at the end, after they obviously did it. Another, dropping ordinance onto a Japanese carrier, states the obvious: "This is for Pearl." ''Midway" might be a film best watched if you switch off the volume.
"Midway," a Lionsgate release, is rated PG-13 for "sequences of war violence and related images, language and smoking." Running time: 138 minutes. One star out of four.
MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
This image released by Lionsgate shows Luke Kleintank, foreground left, and Ed Skrein in a scene from "Midway." (Reiner BajoLionsgate via AP)
Online: https://midway.movie
Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
GUATIRE, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela released a number of imprisoned high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists — both citizens and foreigners — Thursday in what the government described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces to face drug-trafficking charges.
President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Maduro allies now leading the country to fold to his vision for the future of the oil-rich nation, said the releases came at the request of the United States. In the interview on Fox News on Thursday night, Trump praised the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez, saying: “they've been great. ... Everything we’ve wanted, they’ve given us.”
Jorge Rodríguez, brother of the acting president and head of Venezuela's National Assembly, said a “significant number” of people would be freed, but as of late Thursday night it was still not clear who or how many people would be released. The U.S. government and Venezuela's opposition have long demanded the widespread release of imprisoned politicians, critics and members of civil society. The Venezuelan government insists it doesn’t hold political prisoners.
“Consider this a gesture by the Bolivarian (Venezuelan) government, which is broadly intended to seek peace,” he announced.
Among those released was Biaggio Pilieri, an opposition leader who was part of Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado’s 2024 presidential campaign, according to Foro Penal, an advocacy group for prisoners based in Caracas. Also released was Enrique Márquez, a former electoral authority and candidate in the 2024 presidential election, the organization said.
Videos posted by journalists on social media show Márquez and Pilieri embracing loved ones on the streets outside the prison. One video showed Márquez beaming and video-calling family members, saying, “Soon I will be with you all.”
Five Spanish citizens — including the prominent Venezuelan-Spanish lawyer and human rights activist Rocío San Miguel — were also released in the afternoon and, as the night wore on, reports trickled out of more detainees walking free. Relatives who waiting for hours outside one of the prisons outside of Caracas briefly chanted, “Libertad! Libertad!”
Venezuela's government has a history of releasing people imprisoned for political reasons — including real and perceived opponents — during moments of high tension to signal openness to dialogue. The releases on Thursday were the first since Maduro was deposed.
Human rights groups and members of the opposition were encouraged by the move, though it wasn’t clear yet what it represented — whether the growing pains of a government in transition or a symbolic overture to placate the Trump administration, which has allowed Maduro’s loyalists to stay in power as it exerts pressure through crippling sanctions.
For opposition leader Machado – whom Trump has snubbed by endorsing Rodríguez to lead the transition — the gesture was “an act of moral restitution."
“Nothing brings back the stolen years,” she said in an audio message from exile addressed to families of released detainees, urging them to take comfort in the knowledge that “injustice will not be eternal and that the truth, though badly wounded, eventually prevails.”
Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, expressed cautious hope "that this is indeed the beginning of the dismantling of a repressive system in Venezuela ... and not a mere gesture, a charade of releasing some prisoners and incarcerating others.”
Despite a widespread crackdown during the tumultuous 2024 election — in which the government said it detained 2,000 people — Venezuela's government denies that there are prisoners unjustly detained, accusing them of plotting to destabilize Maduro’s government.
Romero's organization said that as of Dec. 29, 2025, there were 863 people detained in Venezuela “for political reasons.”
The Spanish government said Thursday that five of its citizens, including dual national San Miguel, had been released from custody in Venezuela and would soon return to Spain.
Speaking to Spanish broadcaster RNE, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares identified the other Spanish nationals released as Andrés Martínez, José María Basoa, Ernesto Gorbe and Miguel Moreno.
Two of them, Martínez and Basoa, were arrested in Venezuela in September 2024 and accused of plotting to destabilize Maduro’s government as Spanish spies — allegations vehemently denied by Spain.
Spain’s El País newspaper reported Thursday that another freed detainee, Gorbe, was arrested in 2024 on allegations of overstaying his visa.
As the news of the release broke Thursday, families of detainees rushed to prisons across the country, seeking information on their loved ones.
Pedro Durán, 60, was among those hoping to reunite with his brother Franklin Durán as he waited outside a prison in the town of Guatire, around 25 miles (43 kilometers) outside of Caracas. Durán said his brother was detained in 2021 on charges of trying to overthrow Maduro’s government — an accusation his family denies.
Durán, who has been living in Spain, heard rumors on Wednesday that the government could release a number of detainees and immediately bought a plane ticket from Madrid to Caracas to find his brother.
“I don’t have words to express the emotion I’m feeling,” Durán said. “We’re feeling a lot of hope ... We’re just waiting now.”
Despite the anticipation, fear persists.
“Of course everyone here is very scared, but what more could (the government) do to us that they haven’t done already,” he added.
Ronal Rodríguez, a researcher at the Venezuelan Observatory at the University of Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia, said the government releases prisoners at politically strategic moments.
In July last year, Venezuela released 10 jailed U.S. citizens and permanent residents in exchange for the repatriation of over 200 Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador, where they had been held in a prison built to house criminal gangs.
“The regime uses them like a bargaining chip,” he said of prisoners in Venezuela. It will be telling to see not only how many people the government releases, he said, but also under what conditions and whether the releases include anyone high-profile.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration sought to assert its control over Venezuelan oil, seizing a pair of sanctioned tankers transporting petroleum and announcing plans to relax some sanctions so the U.S. can oversee the sale of Venezuela’s petroleum worldwide.
Both moves reflect the administration’s determination to make good on its effort to control the next steps in Venezuela through its vast oil resources after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged after the capture of Maduro that the U.S. will “run” the country.
Trump on Thursday night said that Machado may be visiting Washington next week and that he may be meeting with her.
“I understand she’s coming in next week some time and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump said in the Fox News interview with Sean Hannity. “And I’ve heard that she wants to do that.”
Associated Press reporters Jorge Rueda and Ariana Cubillos in Caracas, Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires and Suman Naishadham in Madrid contributed to this report. Janetsky reported from Mexico City.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Relatives of political prisoners gather outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Atali Freites, the mother of Juan Jose Freites, arrives near El Helicoide, headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service (SEBIN) and a detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after hearing National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez say the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Relatives wait at Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police, where political detainees are held, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
Relatives of detainee Yosnars Baduel embrace outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Relatives of political prisoners gather outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Riot police arrive to El Helicoide, the headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Relatives of political prisoners gather outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Police guard El Helicoide, the headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and detention center, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
El Helicoide, top, the headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and detention center, stands in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release a significant number of Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
FILE - Activists and relatives of prisoners release balloons calling for the freedom of political prisoners, in Caracas, Venezuela, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
Commuters ride a bus past a mural calling for the release of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was detained by U.S. forces, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
