REVIEW: ‘The Blue Angels’ Is A Glorified Advertisement

One of the few theatrical success stories of the current era is Top Gun: Maverick. Some attribute that to the star power of Tom Cruise, others to the IMAX aerial photography. Or it could simply be the long-standing cool factor of seeing high-powered jets go fast. It may not have Cruise, but The Blue Angels attempts to mine some of the excitement around that film’s jets and cinematography. Enjoying a week-long run in IMAX before debuting on Amazon Prime Video, The Blue Angels certainly impresses as a chronicle of what the titular U.S. Navy flight demonstration squadron can do. Unfortunately, director Paul Crowder can’t thread the needle between its stellar footage of the team in action and a narrative that doesn’t go anywhere.

The Blue Angels attempts to provide a holistic look at the titular team. Their mission? Demonstrate the professionalism and teamwork of the pilots of the U.S. Navy. Armed with Boeing F/A-18 Hornet jets, the team’s shows include dazzling feats of daredevil aerial maneuvering. Moreover, The Blue Angels documentary aims to look at what it’s like to be part of the squadron: the rigorous physical requirements, the camaraderie, and the whole nine yards. Members of the Blue Angels who appear in the film include the 2022 iteration of the team, led by Brian Kesselring, and Amanda Lee, the first female jet demonstration pilot to be part of the Blue Angels.

When it comes to showing what the aforementioned Hornet jets can do, The Blue Angels is exhilarating. Cameras mounted all over the jets by cinematographer Jessica Young capture the speed and ferocity of these machines. Audiences are put in the cockpit, on the wing, as close to the danger zone as possible. It’s enough to invoke anxiety or motion sickness in the unprepared viewer. What makes the jets tearing through the sky have even more impact is the myriad of testimonials explaining the experience of piloting. The experience of combatting the heavy G forces involved in flight is recounted in brutal detail, as well as the intensive physical training required.

There are many moments where The Blue Angels hints at a more interesting, incisive documentary that could’ve been. At one point, a member of the squadron talks about how isolating it is to be away from one’s family. Another harps on the palpable danger that accomplishing maneuvers like the famous “Diamond Formation” entails. Unfortunately, these are just hints of a more interesting version of what The Blue Angels could’ve been. For the majority of its runtime, The Blue Angels is nothing more than a fawning advertisement for the traveling demonstration.

With a film like this, one would expect that it’s going to paint the Blue Angels in a good light. That’s not the issue. The issue is that it holds any interiority of the team at arm’s length. The personal stories given by each member of the squadron are vague at best. There’s no deeper insight into what it means to be a Blue Angel other than that it’s difficult and honorable. No one here’s expecting the participants to disparage the organization. What is expected is getting a sense of what the day-to-day is actually like. What conversations do these people have with each other? How do they respond to failure? What are the ups and downs? These questions fall by the wayside as the glory of the institution stays the focus.

As a 45-minute experience shown in museum IMAX theaters, The Blue Angels could be a great time. At its current 94-minute length, it feels interminable. The purpose of a documentary is to provide some kind of understanding of its subject. Due to the inability to dig deeper here, it resembles a commercial that never ends. Hollywood saw something in the Blue Angels, as prominent producers like Glen Powell and J.J. Abrams are involved. Yet, it’s hard to believe that this is the best story that could’ve been told. The Blue Angels is great for footage of these masters of aerial maneuvering doing their thing and not much else.

The Blue Angels is streaming now on Prime Video.