RED TAILS

We are not in this movie much.

This movie might become a staple of middle and high school history classes on rainy afternoons.  Who knows if the kids will enjoy it?  This is producer George Lucas's pet project over 20 years in the making, about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black pilots in WWII who combated enemy troops and institutional racism.  It's nowhere near as good as the original Star Wars trilogy but it's nowhere near as bad as the new Star Wars trilogy, fitting somewhat comfortably in between those two extremes.  It's got a likeable ensemble cast, intentionally funny moments, unintentionally funny moments, exciting dogfights and enough corn to fill a silo.  Gee whiz!

Better organized, easier to follow, and much more thrilling than anything from the new trilogy, the various skirmishes between the Red Tails and other planes, trains, boats, and bases are easily the best part of the film.  The planes themselves are practically equal characters, and the obvious use of full size replicas definitely contributes to that.  But since these aren't space ships, there isn't a quick blast of a lazer and an unlikely explosion when someone gets hit; Cockpit glass shatters, wings are torn apart, engines stall, hot fluids start pooling around the pilots bloodied torso, and thick black smoke obscures everything.  The combat feels much deadlier than anything you'd see in a Star War.

The battles might be finely detailed, but the characters are painted with broad strokes; most are defined by a single trait, many have no subplots or development whatsoever, and at least a few have actors bigger than the part.  David Oyelowo, whom you might remember as the villainous CEO in Rise of The Planet of The Apes, stars as Joe 'Lightning' Little, the cocky hotshot.  Then there's a drunk, a wiseacre, a whippersnapper, a joker, some crusty old mechanics, some racist officers, at least two Italians, one German, an Academy Award winner, and beautiful coastal scenery of Croatia filling in for Italy.

The tone might surprise people.  There hasn't been a war movie this upbeat in years, especially not one that's also about racism.  I kept expecting someone to step forward and say "Hey hey everybody calm down, this is a war, we're all here to have fun."  Most of what you might call 'serious issues' are handled perfunctorily or just dropped outright.  But I wouldn't really want real world serious issues in my Star Wars, and this is basically Star Wars, so this almost works to the film's benefit.  If you tolerated Episodes I, II or III then I think you will enjoy this more.  It has Cuba Gooding Jr with a pipe!

Ooo ta goo ta Solo...

~ The combat scenes in Star Wars (especially A New Hope) were heavily inspired by the previous 30 years of WWII movies.  I remember watching The Dam Busters (1955) and noticing lines of dialogue that had been lifted straight from it and inserted into the Death Star battle that closes the first movie.  So it's only fitting that Lucas would finally make a film like those that so heavily influenced him (could that mean a Samurai picture is in the works at Skywalker Ranch?  Probably not).  When the pilots go through their 'Red #' call signs it's impossible not to think of Star Wars.  Seeing the observation domes on top of bombers that inspired the appearance of R2D2 in the X-Wing will make you hope for some droid cameos.

~ Cable TV All Stars Assemble!  Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad appears very briefly as a racist colonel, Gerald McRaney from Deadwood appears very briefly as a racist general, Lee Tergesen from Oz appears very briefly as a not racist colonel, and from The Wire you can spot Andre Royo, Tristin Wilds, Michael B. Jordan, and supposedly Method Man.

~ One of the best action scenes in the movie happens on a lark, when Lightning decides to attack a German destroyer singlehandedly and then proudly barks what might be this films signature line "How do you like that, Mr Hitler?"

~ The opening credits look like someone half-assed them in at the last moment.  The font looks PC standard from 20 years ago, and I don't even think it was centered properly.  At least the title graphic is stylish and distinct.

~ The closing credits are weird too, listing all the actors in two columns instead of one.

~ George Lucas is sometimes criticized for being old-fashioned.  I think the most notable difference between his films and any others is that he never uses slo-mo.  Think about it.

~ The creator of The Boondocks comic strip and cartoon series Aaron McGruder was brought in for re-writes during Lucas supervised reshoots that further delayed the oft delayed film at least another year.  If I had to guess at least one scene that McGruder wrote, it would be when Ne-Yo jokes with some friendly, non-racist white officers about why the term 'colored' is more accurate for whites instead of blacks.

~ The actual director of the film is Anthony Hemingway, who has lots of great TV direction on his resume (Community Zombie episode, The Wire, CSI, True Blood, Treme).  This is his first feature and it feels pretty darn Lucasy, probably because Lucas directed re-shoots over a year after principal photography has finished, when Hemingway was unable to return because of TV commitments.

~ How evil are the Germans?  The only recurring German character has a giant scar, no name, and shouts things like 'Foolish African!'  So by movie German standards, about average.

~ If you ever wanted to see Ne-Yo perform Robert Johnson's "They're Red Hot" now is your chance.