The Tuskegee Airmen are the all African American military aviators that fought valiantly during World War II. They are most renowned for their success in the war, especially in Europe, and the discrimination they fought against despite the Jim Crow Laws. Despite the military being racially segregated, the Tuskegee Airmen proved their worth and skill throughout the war and won the respect of their peers as well as the United States military. Unfortunately, the movie "Red Tails" does not do any sort of justice to the men who served in the squad. Though the battles in the movie are historically correct, the portrayal of the characters as well as their acting simply does not measure up.
Regardless of several well-known names and faces in acting, such as Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrance Howard and Nate Parker, the acting throughout the movie was trite and predictable. Even singer/songwriter Ne-Yo made an appearance; however, his performance was not much better. This can be seen easily from the beginning of the movie, as four of the pilots go out on patrol and dream wistfully of one day actually fighting in the war.
While the lines from each actor steadily fall into a clichéd fashion, the portrayal of the characters and their actions did not do much service to the infamous airmen either. During many of the air battles that occurred in the movie, the pilots acted as if they were playing around with their enemy, as if not taking the battle seriously. Joe "Lightening" Little, played by David Oyelowo, constantly makes the excuse, "I'm just playing with him!" when he is reprimanded for not staying on task during a "dog-fight," or battle between two aircraft.
The portrayal of the pilots, their maneuvers during fights, as well as how realistic some of the stunts were, is not much better than the acting, as you have to wonder how credible the pilots actually were during war. Instead of taking a battle seriously, many scenes in the movie show the pilots goofing off in the cockpit as opposed to staying focused on the mission ahead. The Tuskegee Airmen fought hard to dispel any doubts that they were more than credible to control and pilot aircraft, and this movie completely undermines any of those attempts.
Though a handful of the historical fights they participated in were accounted for in the movie, the maneuvers and stunts were just not accurate. During the last fight the Germans were piloting jets while the Red Tails were in propeller-driven aircraft that could supposedly catch these jets. This seems quite impractical really, as the airmen were then able to out-maneuver these jets by simply looping behind them and shooting them down.
The Tuskegee Airmen faced a great deal of obstacles during World War II, both from the enemy as well as their fellow Americans. They overcame the racism and bigotry by proving they were more than capable pilots who could fight and defend their country. The movie may have been trying to portray them as good ole' boys that we could relate to, but frankly, they deserve much more credit than that.
