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Film Review – Red Tails

By Richard Lennox on | From filmoria.co.uk

Red Tails, a World War II action film executive-produced and heavily financed by George Lucas, ultimately fails to heed the wisdom of another Lucas creation: Yoda. The Jedi’s now-immortal words were “Do or do not; there is no try.” Unfortunately, this film is heavier on “try” than it is on “do.”

Based on true events, Red Tails tells the story of the 332^nd Fighter Group – a unit comprised of African American pilots and crew who came up through the infamous Tuskegee training program. To say the men are “stationed” in Italy during World War II is putting it nicely. Just as there is segregation back in the States in the 1940s, there is segregation in the battlefield as well, and the 332^nd is relegated to non-critical missions consisting of strafing stray German ground transports (trains, trucks, and the like). The pilots are also resigned to flying beat-up and refurbished old planes.

When US bombers continue to fall victim to German fighters because the US fighters that are there for air support continue to fail, the 332^nd is given a chance to prove themselves, and prove themselves they do – to the point that they draw positive attention, which earns them the chance to fly more critical missions. It also gets them new planes, the tails of which they paint red so that their unit stands out from the others. The rest is history.

Including documentaries, shorts, and propaganda films, the United States has produced well over 350 films about World War II, and it seems like the filmmakers behind Red Tails, led by Lucas and first-time director Anthony Hemingway, try to include something from all 350+ of them. This creates a film where everything is two-dimensional, cliché, or underdeveloped because there isn’t enough time to focus on one thing without the next thing needing to be tended to.

Consider the characters. The senior officers played by the big names on the poster – Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. – have no back-story at all; they are senior military officers from Central Casting (thus putting the talent of the players to poor use). And I’m not sure if this is better or worse than how the men in the unit are portrayed.

Nate Parker plays Marty “Easy” Julian, the flight leader who drinks too much and lives in the shadow of his late father – the reasons behind either we never know. David Oyelowo plays Joe “Lightning” Little, the cocky pilot who has a short temper and takes unnecessary risks while flying – the reasons behind either we never know. There is also the funny pilot, the religious pilot, the young pilot, the cantankerous mechanic, and so on. The main German pilot (dubbed “Pretty Boy” by the men) is tall and menacing and has a long, deep scar across his cheek. Even the general is played by Gerald McRaney, an actor who has made a living out of playing military men his entire career. Everyone in this film is a flat cutout.

The subplots are cliché as well, from the pilot who speaks no Italian and falls in love with the beautiful Italian girl who speaks no English; to the pilot who is shot down and might not live; to the pilot who is shot down and doesn’t live; to the return of the nemesis in a better plane; to the pilot who is captured, sent to a POW camp, and becomes integral to the escape plan.

See what I mean about all 350+ war movies rolled into one?

As for the action sequences, Hemingway is out of his league. Say what you will about Michael Bay, he knows how to shoot big, and his direction of the bombing scene in 2001’s Pearl Harbor set the standard for 1940s effects-driven aerial dogfights on film. Red Tails doesn’t come close, which is a shame, given that Lucas’ own Industrial Light & Magic also worked on this film. Too many close-ups of actors in cockpits spewing clichéd lines interrupt the battle scenes too often. This never allows the viewer to get a complete sense of scope.

All of that aside, it’s the high-level subject matter that saves the film from complete despair. Despite its flaws, the film manages to give the viewer a sense of what these brave men went through – not the combat, but the complete mistreatment by other airmen, high ranking officers, and the very country the Red Tails offered their lives to protect. And when a theater full of people breaks into applause as the closing credits roll, the movie did its job of touching the audience.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Red Tails is playing in theaters across the US now. We are still waiting for a UK release date.