In April of 1916, the United States created the Lafayette Escadrille, a fighter squadron based in France, with the purpose of fighting for the French before the US joined World War I. The unit consisted of American volunteers who joined the unit in order to help keep the Germans at bay.
Flyboys follows some of the first volunteers in the Lafayette Escadrille and their journey toward becoming some of the first fighter pilots. James Franco takes the lead in this film and ultimately guides audiences through the miraculous story of planes being militarized for the first time. As usual, Franco shines and depicts flawless emotion quite effortlessly within every facet of the film. Casting Franco (and the rest of the cast) was a wonderful choice made by casting directors Daniel, John and Ros Hubbard. However, the characters in which they depicted were loosely based on the actual members of the Lafayette Escadrille. Soiling such important names and stories for the sake of Hollywood is a terrible crime that absolutely diminished the meaning behind this inspiring narrative.
While military aviation was not new at the time of the release of the film, it was up to director Tony Bill and director of photography Henry Braham to make it look original and legitimate in regard to the time period. The camera work was done very well throughout the film and Braham and his crew effectively told the story of the success of the Lafayette Escadrille, as well as Blaine Rawlings’ (Franco) story of romance with the French Lucienne (Jennifer Decker). However, the admissible love story between the young couple is reminiscent of Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor (2001). The entire subplot felt sloppy and unnecessary, breeding a bit more disdain toward the film and slowing the overall pacing.
Luckily, the impeccably choreographed dogfights were intense, looked legitimate and demanded attention from viewers, adding layers of excitement to the film. Braham successfully used a combination of extreme close-ups and extreme long-shots to follow the pilots on their journey through war. The aerial visuals were beautiful and surpassed expectations, and the crew’s ability to capture such aesthetically pleasing shots allowed some of the film’s major flaws to be overlooked.
While the film was visually paramount, much of the true story of the Lafayette Escadrille unit was tarnished by way of Hollywood theatrics, altered storylines and the typical romance. Tony Bill had everything he needed in the palm of his hand, and, yet, he chose to throw his possessions to the wayside and nearly build from scratch. His theatrical choices led the film down a dark road of despair and untruth; leaving audiences more dumbfounded than awestruck.
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