I have recently had the great displeasure of viewing the film Flyboys. Not since Titanic and Pearl Harbor have I witnessed such a shameless attempt to profit from tragedy.
Telling the "true" story of the Lafayette Squadron of World War 1, this movie tacks a terrible love story onto itself that would have held together better had it been slapped on with a post-it note. Giving no background to the characters that we are seeing, they are almost instantaneously thrust into joining this elite force of air-men giving no reason whatsoever except thinking that it would be fun to fly planes. Upon arriving in France they train for what feels like no more than a week before they are put into the cockpit of their trusty bi-planes for their first solo flights. One of the men lacks the skill of a marksman with his front mounted cannon and the new ace of the squad is sent up with him to train. And as expected, shock, they crash. They awake in a brothel and the ace falls in love with the nurse, who speaks no English and the develop a relationship after meeting no more than three times.
Planes fly, people die. When they weren't fighting and flying they were on the ground bitching about how they wish they never would've joined up. The dog fights are lackluster. And the villain is a pilot known only as the Black Falcon, they show him once, doing nothing, and build him up to be this great daunting figure, yet he is eliminated so effortlessly. This movie was a yawn at best.
Reviewed by Devon K. Lewis
