This fictionalization of the history and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen is a very controversial movie, it seems. Red Tails joins the Airmen as a unit stationed in Italy, bypassed for important missions and on the verge of being canceled. Need and fate intervene to allow the Negro fliers to fulfill their squadron’s potential, even as the old, white military leaders continue to doubt and fuss about it. That’s the story, which is an important one both in terms of World War II and social history. That’s why producer George Lucas has spent nearly twenty-five years trying to get this movie made, spending millions of his own dollars to do so.

The movie would not exist without George Lucas. Unfortunately, his involvement brings quite a bit of baggage to the project that the film really doesn’t need. His inferior Star Wars  prequels aside, the perception exists that Lucas “dumbs down” his movies to be accepted by undiscriminating audiences, and that he has somehow insulted the memory of the original Tuskegee Airmen with this tribute film. While certain issues cannot be avoided, however, I think Lucas’ project is, on the whole, a worthy movie that will introduce the Airmen to lots of viewers completely ignorant of their existence. And that is a good thing.

The biggest complaint about the movie that I’ve read is that its characters are little more than caricature, or simple stereotype. All war movies have to deal with this to some extent, and Red Tails is under tight scrutiny because of the social significance of the original black pilots (fictionalized for the movie). I think director Anthony Hemingway (a first-time feature film director) did a decent job creating disparate yet recognizable character types and allowing the actors to infuse them with personal touches. I think that as the producer Lucas was consciously worried about making the men too noble, and his movie too sanctimonious — which would have been rather easy to do, so he tried to “humanize” them as much as possible. Therefore, the personal touches seem reasonable and I found them generally effective, especially as enacted by Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Ne-Yo and Andre Royo.

Lucas’ other huge contribution involves the computer graphics of the aerial scenes and dogfights, most of which are impressive. Anyone who has seen Battle of Britain  or Tora! Tora! Tora! would probably recognize the big battle scenes as faked, but without going to the expense of putting real vintage aircraft into the air, this is the next best way to do it. My biggest quibble is that the screen remains too clean, with too little of the flak, smoke, debris and movement that would be truly taking place under the circumstances. Pilots don’t experience G-forces. No radio chatter is heard. Air battles, which are really just controlled chaos, are staged primly rather than wildly. The visuals are good, but they could have been even stronger.

And that, ultimately, is my take on the movie. It was good, but it could have, and probably should have, been even better. Red Tails chronicles an important subject (and is long overdue) but it isn’t gritty enough or daring enough to really blaze across the screen. I enjoyed it, but it felt more like a TV-movie than a feature film. I’m afraid that once again it can be said that George Lucas has wasted an extraordinary opportunity — although I did enjoy what is present.  ✰ ✰ ½.  15 Feb. 2012.