Release Date: January 20, 2012 

I got the visual pleasure of sitting down for George Lucas’ latest production: Red Tails. He exec-produced this little slice of cinematic aviation cake. So you know it’s going to be grand and well developed. However, I’m still paranoid since the Jar-Jar Binks fiasco of ’99.

Red Tails follows the true story of a crew of African-American pilots in the Tuskegee program stationed in Italy during WWII, as the deal with segregation and other problems of that era like pipes and funny sounding Italians.

This flick boasts a pretty wide cast rounded out by stars like: Cuba Gooding Jr. Terrence Howard, Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, David Oyelowo, and my (well everyone’s) favorite meth selling science teacher Bryan Cranston.

At the directing helm of this war-piece is Anthony Hemingway. This may have been his first time at the top, but he’s been involved with some pretty hot and heavy stuff, like: many episodes of The Wire, and he assisted for Ali and Changing Lanes.

What Worked:

– The slow and steady nature of this film. This thing is 121 minutes long. But you don’t really ever have a chance to notice it. It just keep chugging along. For an airplane fighter film, this movie doesn’t keep throwing stuff at you. Rather, you have the opportunity to sit back and take in all the beauty shots. There are many throw back to Lucas from Hemingway with interior cockpit shots.

– The look of this film. It’s just so beautiful.

– Terrence Howard. THIS GUY CAN ACT. His scenes with Bryan Cranston were showstoppers.

– The simple writing. This film is just well written. John Ridley and Aaron McGruder brought this film back to what I call, the simple 80’s. There weren’t any crazy plot twists. This flick went from point A to B and finally to C. We all could guess what was going to happen next, but you get to wrapped up in the characters that you don’t care and just enjoy the good times.

What Sucked:

– Cuba Gooding Jr’s pipe. His overall performance in the film is fantastic. BUT THE DAMN PIPE WAS TOO MUCH. His over-exaggerated use of it was just damn annoying because you know that any man who smokes that much pipe wouldn’t have such fucking white teeth! ESPECIALLY IN THE 1930/40’s!

The Lowdown:

Red Tails is definitely worth your bucks. Don’t be shy. Make a night of it. The story will entertain you, the occasional comedy bits will get you to chuckle and the tender sadness will have you weeping in your girlfriends arms.

PS: Fun Fact! Cuba Gooding Jr. actually starred in the 1995 HBO film The Tuskegee Airmen with Laurence Fishburne about the exact same crew of fly-boys.