After realizing that their planes aren't as good as those made in America, the Chinese Military decides to develop the best fighter aircraft in the world tested by the best pilots China can muster.
This is a jingoistic rah rah Chinese piece of propaganda that is their answer to TOP GUN MAVERICK. It is a 100% hooray for our side film that is their version of the Tom Cruise films. It's just as macho and over the top as the American counterpart. It is also has 100 times more soap opera with the narrative sequences taking turns that you only see in over done pot boilers. I laughed myself silly with some of the turns (one characters meaningful death speech and later, a control room full of teary eyed pilots). The plotting is so boiler plate that you can't help but know how this is going to go.
The plotting doesn't matter, what matters here are the the action sequence and they are quite good. While the CGI is uneven, especially early on, flying sequence still grab us and hold our attention. There are some great aerial sequences here, with the final test flight a nail biter, even if the shots of the crying pilots make it seem less serious than intended.
To be certain the over the top anti-American stance is a bit much and similar to the anti Russian stances many Hollywood films took in the 50's, but it really doesn't matter since this is a film about manly men trying to do something heroic in ways that they only do it in the movies. Because the film is supposed to be silly macho BS you can't take it too much to heart. (Besides in many ways we earned the ribbing by sending our jingoistic nonsense out into the world).
To be certain BORN TO FLY isn't high art but it entertains enough that it's worth a look.
No comments:
Post a Comment