Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland
Rated PG-13 for some sequences of war violence
Markus Rating 2 out of 5 Stars (and this is me being generous)
In a recent interview with George Lucas, he claimed that the reason his production company (Lucasfilm) had to fully fund his new film project “Red Tails” was because the concept of putting out a film about the first African America military aviators in the United States Armed Forces (The Tuskegee Airmen), who fought during World War II in a time of heavy bigotry and tumultuous segregation, with an all black cast was turned down by every Hollywood studio. In saying all of that, did the great Lucas himself direct this film? Nope. And why do you think that could have been if he himself was so passionately behind the “Red Tails” concept? Could it be that he knew that directing a film with a John Ridley and Aaron McGruder (Boonbocks) script would be career suicide? And maybe said “big named Hollywood production companies” wouldn’t touch this film not because of any outright bigotry, but for the same reason Lucas wouldn’t put his talent where his mouth is and direct this movie. Oh well, I guess we will never know.
Directed by Anthony Hemingway, “Red Tails” shows flashes of a GREAT movie but struggles to find its place in the upper echelon of African American films amid corny one-liners, shotty CGI effects and a vast array of one-dimensional characters. In fact, there was only one positive that I took away from this movie, which was that the information given about The Tuskegee Airmen was quite accurate, which is important because this is a subject matter far too often skipped over in the history books of today. It is just a shame that “Red Tails” wasn’t a better movie. But here is the million dollar question: If George Lucas wanted to make a film about the great Tuskegee pilots that would be taken seriously, then why did he hire a director who has directed nothing of note and a writer whose claim to fame is being the guy who wrote “Undercover Brother”? Are we to believe that these are the only two accomplished black men that Lucas knows?! Well unfortunately, “Red Tails” reflects this sentiment.
Side Note: As for co-writer Aaron McGruder, the very outspoken creator of the brilliant at times Cartoon Network show” Boondocks”, who has spent his young career lampooning the BET’s and Tyler Perry’s of the world for creating black entertainment with zero substance, should be ashamed to have his name down on this film. McGruder is maybe one of the most talented black writers in Hollywood today, but the fact that he co-wrote this simpleton script is unbelievable to say the least. So much so that I am rethinking my support for a man I thought to be the next Spike Lee.
Generic clichés are the name of the game with “Red Tails.” You have a scene with a white sergeant calling a black sergeant the “N” word, another where a heartfelt speech is given right on cue just before the final battle and yet another speech of a man who is dying in his best friend’s arms (well not physically his arms because they were in aircraft, but that is a minor detail). As for the performances here, they were all vanilla at best (and really not worth mentioning). What I will mention is how Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire, Men of Honor), who plays Major Emanuelle Stance (the leader of The Airmen), gives one of the most laughable performances of his career. Although the bad performances may not have all been the actor’s fault, because the McGruder/Ridley made for T.V. script was laced with very underdeveloped caricatures of very important historical and VERY REAL individuals. The characters are so one-dimensional that there was not much difference between undeveloped characters here and the ones in current blaxploitation films such as “Barbershop” or “Lottery Ticket.” The characters here consist of your smart black (who can unfortunately also be seen as the uncool black), your religious black, your scared black (who is also the super skinny, Chris Tucker-ish, comically obnoxious black), your ol’ Southern black (played horribly by R&B singer Ne-Yo) your dumb black (who is also the athletic and ladies man black), your old black wise man and your black leader (who is the most human of the lot, but still has to recite the stupidest dialogue). The issue at hand is that all of these stereotypical characters are hidden behind a subject matter that is so serious and all around “good,” that even though the characters themselves were written with little substance, “Red Tails” will still be misconceived as an uplifting important African American drama simply from the synopsis alone. I for one am a proud black man who is very proud of his heritage and was rather exited to see this film, so even though for a lot of African American’s (especially ones who served in the Military) this film will be untouchable, after watching “Red Tails” I have concluded that the actual subjects (the real men who this film was about) where done nothing more than a flimsy disservice. It’s as if Lucas was so worried about the PR this film would generate, that they didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feeling by making these characters too real. And their WAR story was treated as if it were nothing more than an after school special.
Final Thought: While “Red Tails” is nowhere near as bad as a Tyler Perry film and while the story is one that cries out to be heard, as a war movie, Lucasfilm has made the entire story of the Tuskegee Airmen cartoonish. Let’s put it this way. The battle sequences, which were maybe the best parts of the movie, are as far away from the caliber of filmmaking of a “Saving Private Ryan” or even “The Thin Red Line” as one can possibly get. Yes, there are enough “rah rah” pregame speeches and a few funny moments to get mass audiences through this film, BUT in the end, “Red Tails” suffers from an inexperience not only behind the camera but with the script writing as well. If you want to see a well done African American WWII film check out the very underrated Spike Lee Joint “A Miracle at St. Anna” or even Robert Markowitz’s T.V. movie entitled “The Tuskegee Airmen”. And note to black directors, if you are going to make a movie about a serious subject, drop the “Barbershop”/”Madea”/”Nutty Professor”-esque one liners. They are as unnecessary as they are insulting to the African American viewing audience.