Red Tails

As a fan of George Lucas, I felt that I should give “Red Tails” a chance. While I can see that the film has problems, I still was entertained and the story was good. I also feel the special effects are noteworthy. I feel that the invention of the jet airplane took away some of the romantic feeling that comes with flying. The same can be said for the coming forth of the interstate freeway system. More speed means less time to enjoy the ride. “Red Tails” depicts WWII pilots in a very appealing light. This movie could have been so much worse.

One problem I have with the movie is the design. Everything looks too new. The costumes, the sets and the props all look like they were made yesterday. This includes the hand-me-down planes at the start of the movie. Lucas came up with the idea of the “used future” so why couldn’t he pull off a “used past”. Spielberg and Clint Eastwood were able to achieve a realistic design for WWII so why not Lucas. The film also feels a little one-dimensional and the one-liners were enjoyable at some times but not genuine at other times. The casting had problems because I would have rather had Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard in the staring roles. They did their jobs well, having both acting in stories about the Tuskegee airmen before, but the actors portraying the pilots were too unknown for my taste. I did not believe them in the film’s environment. One story flaw was that a main character should have died early on so as to create worry for the other pilots. In “Star Wars: A New Hope” a lot of rebel pilots are killed in the Battle of Yavin and this creates drama as to whether Luke will survive. “Red Tails” should have seen more KIA’s. One of the reasons why the major studios would not back “Red Tails” was because the cast was almost entirely African American. I can see their point only from a storytelling standpoint. Films like “Remember the Titans” and “The Help” work because of the use of both white and black actors. With the majority of the cast being black in this movie, there was little conflict that had to be resolved story-wise. Having pointed out my criticisms, the film had good points. The best quality of this movie was the special effects. It was hard to tell a CG plane from a real one. The clouds and aerial battles sure are hard to believe that they were created in post-production. I love the Tuskegee airmen’s first combat mission and how they follow the enemy fighter in order to attack his base. A great plot line of the film was Ray Gun’s capture, imprisonment and escape. One flaw however was that it was obvious that he would show up alive at the end of the movie. I enjoyed the conflict between Lightning and Easy as well as Lightning’s relationship with Sofia. The film had some well-written lines such as Howard’s character being only able to respect the uniform of his superior. I like how he later he tears up the telegraph and thereby saying he will not call his pilots back. Other good scenes include when the Red Tails are invited into the officers club and in the POW camp. I liked the use of “America the Beautiful” at the end of the film.

I like how Lucas directed the reshoots for this movie when director Anthony Hemingway was busy shooting for HBO. Even though this movie had some flaws, I still enjoyed the movie as a fan of WWII history. The special effects from Industrial Light and Magic are cool and the story is fine. I am a little sad that Lucas is going independent. It appears that he is still trying to get freedom to make the movies he wants. Not only does it appear that he needs freedom from studio control but ironically, he needs to be free of his “fans”. He has lost his followers because they make him out to be something he is not. He is simply a storyteller who enjoys improving his old stories. Instead of focusing on the good Lucas has done and how he has changed their lives, his fans are overly vocal about their disappointment with his changes. In my opinion if you don’t like something that someone has done, you don’t have to buy or watch it. If you don’t like the changes to “Star Wars” for Blu-ray, don’t buy them. While we are on the subject, I believe that Indy can survive an atomic blast in a refrigerator in the same franchise that contains the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. I am getting off topic though. I think critics did not like “Red Tails” because they went expecting a bad movie. For me, I went with an open mind and a desire to be positive. I came out entertained but I did understand what was wrong with this movie. It is worth seeing in the second run theaters.

3 Stars