Review of Red Tails (2012) by Manny C — 02 Jun 2012
For decades George Lucas has been obsessed with bringing to the big screen the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the African-American aviators who fought in WWII for the U.S. Army Air Corps amid racial discrimination that often relegated their roles to bomber escorts.
It's an amazing story, but executive producer Lucas, together with director Anthony Hemingway (who has helmed episodes of The Wire and Treme) don't quite fulfill their ambitions of turning that story into a major epic.
The flying sequences are purely electrifying, showing the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Groups' planes painted red, hence the name Red Tails, but computer effects wizardry is not enough. The plot grounds the film in standard rah-rah.
Terence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. play head officers who don't bark orders so much as explain plot points. You may, like me, leave Red Tails, thinking more of what could have been rather than what has just been seen.
Those brave pilots deserved better.
This review of Red Tails (2012) was written by Manny C on 02 Jun 2012.
Red Tails has generally received mixed reviews.
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