Red Tails

“Blacks are mentally inferior, by nature subservient and cowards in the face of danger. They are therefore unfit for combat.” This was the conclusion reached by a US Army War College study conducted in 1925. These words are projected verbatim across a black screen at the very beginning of “Red Tails,” a film centred on the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American fighter pilot squadron. On a daily basis, these men faced unthinking racism in their attempts to take to the sky in defense of their country during World War II: they were thought of as incompetent, unintelligent and cowardly by white officers, and were therefore routinely subjected to racial discrimination. Heroically, they overcame this ignorance, went on to destroy 112 German planes in the air and 150 on the ground, and ultimately changed the face of the American armed services forever. Pretty good for a bunch of “negroes,” I think you’ll agree.

But “Red Tails” isn’t too interested in what is the all-important meat of these men’s glorious story, for it is a film with its head in the clouds, literally: it is far too interested in the explosive aerial combats in which the Tuskegee Airmen fearlessly took part during WWII. Any depictions in the film of the racial prejudice these men fought against alongside Nazi forces serve merely as a distraction from the airborne warfare and sometimes as a lazy attempt to rile us up: white officers deny them access to their apparently white-only officers’ bar (“Go home, nigger,” casually remarks a pool-player), yet welcome them with open arms following word of one successful mission. Still, those aerial combats sure are cool, aren’t they?

Their story, as shown in “Red Tails,” begins in Italy, 1944, where they take part in low-stakes ground attacks against German supply trains in hand-me-down aircrafts. They are under the guidance of Major Emanuel Stance (Cuba Gooding, Jr., forever sucking on an unlit pipe), who is growing increasingly tired of his dedicated squad’s courageous actions counting for zilch. Meanwhile in Washington, Col. A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard, “Iron Man”) attempts to attain better resources for the Tuskegee Airmen, in spite of the stubborn resistance of Col. William Mortamus (Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad") - he’s in strong agreement with the conclusion of that US Army War College study.

Eventually, the Tuskegee Airmen are awarded a high-profile assignment: providing air support during an attack against Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, who are led by German ace pilot Pretty Boy (Lars van Riesen), characterised as a snarling Aryan. This is where “Red Tails” spreads its wings, with speeding bullets tearing their way through aircraft metal and the aircraft themselves ducking and diving between the clouds of Italy at a hundred miles per hour. The special effects work by Industrial Light and Magic is spectacular, animating the flying machines with a startling realism and a convincing physicality. These dogfight sequences are both gorgeous and exciting; if only the action on the ground below was nearly as stirring.

Several subplots are interwoven throughout the narrative, some more effectively than others. An effective one focuses on Joe “Lightning” Little (David Oyelowo, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), a cocky pilot and loose cannon whose recklessness in combat is an irritation to whiskey-chugging superior Martin “Easy” Julian (Nate Parker, “The Secret Life of Bees”). Another, much less effective subplot revolves around Lightning’s infatuation with a beautiful Italian local, Sofia (Daniela Ruah), who lives with her elderly mother and who is wooed by Lightning’s American charm - unbelievably, their romance is sparked when Sofia, standing in her back garden, spots Lightning’s plane flying by and waves at him.

It is of note that “Red Tails” is executive produced by George Lucas (the creator of “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones,” as the television spots proudly gloat), who has been trying to get the project off the ground for 23 years - after almost a quarter of a century, he has finally succeeded, in some ways. Lucas’ influence and presence is evident and felt throughout the film: the same wooden acting, laughable dialogue (“Die, you foolish African!") and overuse of CGI that plagued his “Star Wars" prequels are available by the shedload and displayed in full force throughout “Red Tails,” only here they’re attached to a telling of the legendary story of real-life war heroes.

And while the film is officially directed by first-time filmmaker Anthony Hemingway, one struggles to shake the feeling that this isn’t Lucas’ production: the film, after all, was funded entirely by the man, and his name has been splattered all over the promotional materials. Plus, the film features the same sense of pulpy adventurism showcased in his “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” trilogies, which clashes with the film’s determination to tell the story of the Tuskegee Airmen with heartfelt passion and to do them the justice they undoubtedly deserve - it achieves neither and, like an exploding Nazi fighter plane, comes violently crashing back down to Earth.

The story of the Tuskegee Airmen is worthy of a great movie adaptation, and “Red Tails” is not this. I struggle to call it even a good adaptation: it strives to be both an inspirational historical piece and a heart-racing action blockbuster, and fails at both. But it was made with the best of intentions, and I appreciate that. Lucas apparently had great trouble getting the film made and released in theatres due to, he claims, studios’ resistance to producing a big-budget movie with a black-centric cast. I can think of a few other reasons...

5/10