Film: Red Tails (2012)

Italy 1944. The 332nd Fighter Group - made up entirely of African-Americans -  are kicking their heels flying coastal patrols and strafing missions, wondering if they'll ever get to take on German fighters.
 Back in Washington their commanding officer is trying to stave off yet another attempt to disband his unit when he is offered a chance to get his men into combat.
  The USAAF is taking heavy bomber losses because their escorts keep taking off and leaving the formation undefended.  Can the 332nd do a better job?


Based on the true story of the famous "Tuskegeee Airmen" "Red Tails" opens in impressive fashion with a fleet of B17s getting hacked to pieces and it has to be said the aerial sequences are pretty good. You also can't fault the actors involved, mostly unknowns and mostly doing a good job.
  For some reason I didn't enjoy this film as much as I'd expected. It's decent enough, not as corny as I'd been led to believe and the characters are all interesting if a little on the cliche'd side
 It could be that the tension between Squadron Leader   "Easy" and hotshot pilot "Lightning" is a little forced at times and "Lightning"'s romance with a local girl was quite possibly shoehorned in because distributors are terrified of films without any female characters.
 But the main reason this film did not live up to my expectations is, I think, that I'd been waiting well over a year to see it. "Red Tails" was originally filmed in 2009, briefly snuck into UK cinemas early in 2012 and I didn't even see a DVD copy on the shelves until last month. (Make of that what you will.) So after all that, I 'd built my expectations up to a point the movie just couldn't meet.

 Not bad but could have been better. 

Here's the trailer if you're interested.