| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
|
| Story: |
B+ |
|
|
| Acting: |
A- |
|
|
| Direction: |
B+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A- |
|
|
Wow! Suprisingly Good WWI Movie
by Nileliniel (movies profile)
Jul 25, 2007
60
of
67 people found this review helpful
The year is 1916 when Europe is embroiled in World War I while America remains isolated and officially uninvolved. However, a few American men do step forward to join the resistance to the German force. In France, these American boys were formed into the Lafeyette Escadrille, a flying fighting unit to support the French ground troops and take out as many German planes as possible.
Rawlings (James Franco) joined the Escadrille to get a fresh start after losing his family's ranch; Jensen (Philip Winchester) joined to capture some of his family's heroic military glory for himself; Briggs Lowry (Tyler Labine) joined because his wealthy father forced him to; Beagle, Toddman, Dweitt, Nunn, Grant and others came for their own reasons. When they arrived in France, they spoke no French, had never served in the military and had never flown in an airplane before. It was left to their Commander (Jean Reno) and resident flying ace Cassidy (Martin Henderson) to turn these raw recruits into a usable fighting force and to teach them a little bit about life in the process.
This movie has just about everything I look for in a summer blockbuster - great storyline, memorable characters, stunning visual effects, plenty of action and some humor thrown in. I felt that James Franco did an excellent job at standing out in this ensemble cast without overshadowing his fellow actors. He reminded me a lot of Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun, where he started off as a cocky fighter pilot and then turned into something more. They even use the 'Top Gun flyby' in this movie. The other actors really did a superb job as well. David Ellison, who played Beagle, provided most of the humorous moments and was a joy to watch. Martin Henderson, who played the ace fighter pilot Cassidy, struck a perfect balance between being a leader and befriending the new pilots. Jean Reno was also a delight to watch in his role as the commander and I really enjoyed his dry wit and understated acting, as always. The director really did a good job about making you care for all of the characters - even the ones that were not in the movie long before they died.
The dog fights were stunningly executed with gorgeous visual effects and plenty of close ups to help you remember who was whom. Of course, they are putting these bi-planes through maneuvers that were not possible at the time and flying them like our modern-day jet fighters, but, hey, they are really fun to watch! That said, the action sequences are mainly found at the last half of the movie with some building up to it by introducing you to all of the characters and sparking a romance between James Francos' character and a French girl. However, the fight sequences were well worth the wait and really made more sense placed where they were as the characters had a chance to develop into pilots.
I would recommend that anyone go see this movie opening weekend or go see it in the theatres at any time - the flight sequences are just stunning up in the blue sky on a big screen. Flyboys is a memorable addition to the World War I film genre, with enough action, humor and romance to attract both men and women to the movie. Go see this film - you will really enjoy it! |
My Public Profile 
