At slate.com, Forrest Wickman writes, "The old-fashioned cheese and effects-driven vacuousness on display here are classic George Lucas. . . . [E]ntertaining your audience doesn't mean you need to treat them like idiots who can't handle so much as a minute of exposition."
True enough, Red Tails is no Glory, the 1989 film about the Civil War's all-black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. That was a serious treatment of wars waged against the rebel enemy and the myriad struggles within the Union ranks. Red Tails is more a throwback to the war movies of the era it depicts. A diverse group of Americans - from city and countryside, officers and enlisted, hot shots, and thoughtful - are thrown together in wartime. It's about their struggles on the ground, their adventures in the air, the bonds that are forged, the soldiers that are lost. It's about duty, honor, courage, and sacrifice, with plenty of examples of each along the way.
And maybe making that kind of movie about the Tuskegee Airmen is progress in itself. Finally, these World War II heroes get the John Wayne treatment they have always deserved, but couldn't have dreamed of receiving in their segregated day.
For all the criticisms of the film, though, one thing Lucas got right is his depiction of the battles. That was pointed out to me by Bertram Levy, a retired major who attended a recent premiere of Red Tails in King of Prussia.
Levy knows the story of the Red Tails pilots well. The 89-year-old Philadelphia native was one of them. He offers high praise that the movie was accurate, particularly in its portrayal of the missions flown. But he also lauded its depiction of the frustrations and injustices of segregation, the many successes of the airmen once they were allowed into combat, and the respect and accolades that they eventually earned from their white counterparts.
