Red Tails surprised me. George Lucas Executive Produces this tale inspired by the Tuskegee airmen of World War II. The visual effects were much more realistic in the film than the trailer, which to me looked a little hokey. The story revolves around an all African-American squadron of airmen who must not only fight the Nazi's, but also battle superiors in a racially divided military. When finally given their chance to prove themselves by protecting bombers over Germany, their bravery and heroics shine through.
It seems as though a theme is developing lately in my reviews regarding casting and acting. Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding, Jr. are relegated to supporting rolls as the squadron's commander and executive officer. This leaves, let's say, lesser known actors to carry the day and they fall short. Both in their early forties, Howard and Gooding could have easily taken the leads as squadron leader and his defiant best friend. Their Oscar nominated and winning performances (Hustle and Flow and Jerry Maguire) were much needed in these two roles.
Why do directors of WWII aviation movies require (or allow) an actor to smoke a pipe? Not a scene passes that Gooding is not jamming a Sherlock Holmes looking pipe in his mouth. Ridiculous. In my brief military flying career, I never once saw a pipe hanging from someone's mouth or anywhere else for that matter. My service was many years after WWII, but trust me when I say, the military hadn't changed much. Forget the ridiculous personal props already.
This story somehow gets from point A to point B just fine. I say "somehow" because the dialog coming from these guys' mouths was terrible. These lines were right on the nose. We would be seeing an action on the screen and someone would be telling us about it. General movie rule, show it, don't tell it. Example, one airman is shot up pretty bad and the decision is made to bailout, but his canopy will not open. We see him struggle with the lever, but no use. We get it. He is stuck. But if we didn't get it, the squadron leader pipes in with something like this: That canopy is the only thing that stands between you and death. Brilliant.
Most should wait for the DVD, but because it is aviation, I will rate it a friendly three of five airplanes.
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