War drama entertains despite predictability

Boy goes to war. Boy finds friends and rivals. Boy's plane crashes, and he falls in love with the girl who saves him. Later, every man proves himself a hero. Flyboys may be the first World War I aviation film in 40 years (not counting anything starring Snoopy), but it feels awfully familiar. So, if you're after another conventional war picture -- but this time with biplanes -- your search is over.

Flyboys tells the story of the Lafayette Escadrille, American pilots who fought with the French just before America entered WWI. We watch the men do a whole lot of bombing with no unifying plot guiding them; the film spends much of its time on the pilots' interactions with one another. The large cast of characters includes hero Rowlings (James Franco), jaded expert Cassidy (Martin Henderson) and, as the highlight, deadpan Frenchman Captain Thenault (Jean Reno, adopting his trademark persona). They may be stereotypes with often corny dialogue, but they're interesting nonetheless, so the numerous death scenes are more moving than you might otherwise expect.

The film alternates between non-combat scenes, featuring the men's development and Rowling's by-the-book romance with a French villager (Jennifer Decker), and the squadron's missions, all well done and each more visually impressive than the last. It does get pretty routine before long -- this is a War Movie that takes few risks -- but keep your expectations low, and you'll probably find Flyboys to be enjoyable, or at least more fun than the Treaty of Versailles.