Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
It may come as no surprise to read that the new film from George Lucas – WWII aerial drama Red Tails – is more sure-footed in the exciting dogfight combat scenes than it is on the tarmac. It sucks when conventional wisdom is proven to be true – it’d have been much more interesting to be able to say that producer Lucas and director Anthony Hemingway have exceeded expectations – but the film is exactly what you’d expect: a mix of amazing CGI planes and the cliche, thinly defined pilots who fly them. There’s the alcoholic one (Nate Parker), the undisciplined but brilliant ace (David Oyelowo), the eager-to-please rookie (Tristan Wilds), and their proud, faultlessly noble superiors (Cuba Gooding, Jr and Terrence Howard), but if you’ve seen a movie before you’ll instantly figure out where all these guys are headed, along with what you’re supposed to think and feel,...
It may come as no surprise to read that the new film from George Lucas – WWII aerial drama Red Tails – is more sure-footed in the exciting dogfight combat scenes than it is on the tarmac. It sucks when conventional wisdom is proven to be true – it’d have been much more interesting to be able to say that producer Lucas and director Anthony Hemingway have exceeded expectations – but the film is exactly what you’d expect: a mix of amazing CGI planes and the cliche, thinly defined pilots who fly them. There’s the alcoholic one (Nate Parker), the undisciplined but brilliant ace (David Oyelowo), the eager-to-please rookie (Tristan Wilds), and their proud, faultlessly noble superiors (Cuba Gooding, Jr and Terrence Howard), but if you’ve seen a movie before you’ll instantly figure out where all these guys are headed, along with what you’re supposed to think and feel,...
- 5/23/2012
- by Robert Beames
- Obsessed with Film
The opening minutes of Red Tails set the stage for what you can expect throughout the whole movie. It's World War II, a group of American bombers are being escorted through enemy territory and the Germans have arrived to throw a wrench in the works. Planes swarm in a dance of CG aerial acrobatics until the camera focuses in on an American pilot who exclaims, "Germans! Let's get 'em!" thus beginning two-hours of elementary dialogue interspersed with rote plotlines you could have easily predicted before walking in.
Using the heroics of the African American pilots that make up the Tuskegee 332nd Fighter Group to tell this "inspired by a true story", Red Tails cherry picks and gives these boys a variety of cliched personality traits to keep the story moving forward.
First there's "Easy" (Nate Parker), the squadron captain. He has a drinking problem you can be sure will get...
Using the heroics of the African American pilots that make up the Tuskegee 332nd Fighter Group to tell this "inspired by a true story", Red Tails cherry picks and gives these boys a variety of cliched personality traits to keep the story moving forward.
First there's "Easy" (Nate Parker), the squadron captain. He has a drinking problem you can be sure will get...
- 1/20/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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