Flyboys

WWI aces in training or just a long boring movie?

I went out today to see the new movie Flyboys. A friend and I had been interested in seeing it since seeing some trailers for it over the last several weeks and with it opening yesterday, we took the opportunity to catch it this morning at one of the matinee shows.

I have some complaints about the length of the movie, and about not being able to see the star of the movie without thinking he was going to go off looking for Spiderman to avenge his father's death, but over all it was an enjoyable film.

It drug on perhaps a bit too long, maybe having taken lessons from Pearl Harbor (the Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett bomb), a movie that couldn't seem to figure out to end itself, but the action was good, the dog fighting was fun to watch and not as bad for causing motion sickness as I had first anticipated. The love story within the movie was also a bit distracting (again, seemingly having borrowed some pages out of Pearl Harbor) but not bad enough to really pull down the movie as a whole.

I don't want to give out too many details, but I'd say if you like dog fighting and WWI era planes and such, then it's a very enjoyable film. If you aren't into those sorts of things, then you may want to pass this one for now and wait for DVDs or pay cable channels.

Overall grade: B-
worth the ticket price, good popcorn crunching film, but be prepared to need a restroom break about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way into the film.
4,173 views 3 replies
Reply #1 Top
I should add, if you are thinking of seeing this movie, I think it deserves the viewing on the big screen. I commented to my friend that something that I didn't see with this one was any mention of availability in IMAX theatres. It seems like it would have been a good candidate for that given the subject matter and the beautiful scenery in the film.
Reply #2 Top
I am more looking forward to Flag of our Fathers that I think comes out next month. The Clint Eastwood directed Iwo Jima movie.
Reply #3 Top
We went to see the Black Dahlia. If you read the book, it is a good movie.