Flyboys Review

Based on the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille.

As World War 1 rages in Europe and allied forces France, Italy, and
England find there troops diminishing due to the overwhelming force of the German air battalion. A handful of American soldiers volunteer to assist the French in learning to fly for freedom.

Even though they’ve been told the average lifespan of a pilot is about 3-6 weeks, the American members of the Lafayette Escadrille don’t seem overly worried about the possibility of dying. I mean sure, Sometimes they go out and sometimes they die, but our heroes always come back home to a nice cozy, safe bed. The reality of the first terrible world war never really touches the characters in this film and because of that we never get any tangible sense of what exactly it is that they’re fighting for.

Let’s face it though, if you’re anything like me you’re here for the dogfights. Flyboys’ planes look pretty, their CGI frames glistening in the sunlight as they dip, dive, and burn through the sky, but that thrill of being shot at in an open cockpit is nowhere to be found. The pilots all react as if they’re being filmed in front of a blue screen, which of course they are. There’s a lot of talk about how excited these daring dos are to be up in the air, but very little while they’re up there to actually indicate it.

*sighs* well at least its a fun movie to watch when its a rainy saturday night and you have 2 hours of down time.

Ann 6th