R2B: Operação Retorno a Base

This film didn't have the look and feel of a Korean film. It also felt like two completely different films: the first half being a slow-paced comedy; the second half a fast-paced action drama. The film felt like it didn't really know what it wanted to be, and even during the more serious moments, I didn't find the actors serious enough. Most of the time I had no idea what the film was actually about.

The antagonists are not set up properly and only appears at the halfway mark, without any mention of them prior to this. The attack happens suddenly without explanation as to why they are attacking or who they really are. The attack scene was really good, but not enough to save the film. It felt like they blended together 'Top Gun' and 'Behind enemy lines' to ultimately become 'Sky Hunter'. Speaking of which, I'd rather watch 'Sky Hunter' a hundred times over before giving this film a second viewing.

South Korea's answer to TOP GUN (1986) -- SOAR INTO THE SUN (a.k.a. R2B: RETURN TO BASE) is a big-budget blockbuster tries to replicate the Hollywood-style of filmmaking mostly found in any summer movie tentpole. It certainly has that showy and expensive look, particularly for its many impressive aerial stunts (more on that later). But writer-director Kim Dong-Won botches everything up with too many cheesy melodrama and mawkish sentimentality borderlined into self-parody. No wonder the movie ends up underperformed at the domestic box-office.

In this embarrassingly lackluster movie, the story centers on Jang Tae-Hun (Rain), a cocky young pilot of the South Korean Air Force's elite Black Eagles squad who gets expelled of the team, following from his dangerous daredevil stunt at an air show. As a punishment, he is immediately transferred to the 21 Combat Unit, which is led by Park Dae-Seo (Kim Sung-Su). Meanwhile, it doesn't take long before he makes enemy with an ace pilot Lee Cheol-Hee (Yu Jun-Sang), who particularly hate each other. Naturally, they prepare to engage in a flight contest to see which among of them emerge as the best pilot in the 21 Combat Unit. Of course, such genre movie like that wouldn't be complete without an obligatory love interest. Enter Sgt. Yoo Se-Young (Shin Se-Kyung), a failed pilot-turned-head of maintenance who loves to act cool and doesn't particularly talks much, even though Tae-Hun likes her very much.

Clocking at 113 minutes, I must admit that watching SOAR INTO THE SUN is seriously a test of patience. The first half is especially a huge letdown, in which the story drags too much that goes into nowhere. Most of the time we are forced to sit through a long-winded stretch of some lame romantic comedy (particularly the one involving Tae-Hun and Se-Young) found in Korean TV drama, and not to mention, many other annoying subplots. If Kim Dong-Won is trying hard to be funny, then he fails miserably. Even by the time the movie reaches the second half with a sudden change of dramatic tone, it's already too late and too little to redeem everything.

Still, those are looking forward for some sensory thrills will be excited by the aforementioned aerial stunts. The two climactic highlights -- the aerial battle within the city of Seoul and the explosive finale -- are undeniably breathtaking with swooping cameraworks and magnificent sound effects that they are best seen in a big screen theaters.

Too bad that's the only good thing about this movie. The rest is simply a monumental waste of time. If that's not insulting enough, the cast is a total disappointment who are all nothing more than one-note stereotypical characters. Rain, who completed this movie before heading off for his obligatory national service, gives an unremarkable performance who spends most of the time looking too cheesy or (ahem) cutesy. Sure, he does show some "seriousness" towards the second half, but by then, it's really hard to take him seriously. As for the rest of the supporting actors, the less said the better.

So much for a so-called movie specially released in remembrance of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

While Top Gun 2 never made it off the ground, given the passing of Tony Scott, and more importantly, the lack of a credible rogue nation/enemy (even Top Gun had the pilots battle unidentified enemy bogeys that had generic communist markings on the MiGs), the clear and present danger that South Korea faces in the threats from the North, gives it the bandwidth to craft a scenario that's fully plausible, with the film industry taking certain liberties with the maneuverability of the planes they feature, but hey, it's movie making, so a little fantasy to spice up some aerial dogfights is more than expected for entertainment's sake.

For fans hungry for air combat scenes, this film featured plenty of stunts, effects, and battles that really made Top Gun look very dated, especially in its adoption of more fanciful camera work that seemed to fluidly move around the aircraft when it's in rapid motion in the air. Views are offered in and around the cockpit bubble, sometimes slowed down for somewhat comical staring of daggers between opponents. There's the usual dogfights between planes - having the F-15 do battle against its arch-rival the MiG-29 - is pure delight for any combat aviation fan, and if my eyes didn't play tricks on me, look out for the MiG's fabled cobra maneuver - I'd almost jump out of my seat with disbelief and glee when that happened.

Soar into the Sun has a whole host of arsenal deployed and missions to fulfill, such as air-to- air, surface-to-air, air-to-surface missiles, anti-aircraft guns, and missions from routine patrols, infiltration, and search and rescue all making it one holistic look at the workings of an air force. And what's more, not only do fighter pilots get in on the action, but attention being paid to the ground technical crew who keep the planes in tip top condition in between sorties, as well as ground commandos in extraction missions using their fixed wing aircraft, trained to rescue pilots who are downed behind enemy lines - and yes, this is yet another subplot that managed to find its way into the narrative, based on the John Moore film in 2001 starring Gene Hackman and Owen Wilson in his rare outing as an action hero.

Rain completed this film before heading toward his obligatory national service, and here he plays hotshot (what else?) pilot Jung Tae-Hoon, who's the youngest in the acrobatic Black Eagles team, flying the FA-50/T50 Golden Eagle (flown by Indonesia and South Korea's air force only), which is a trainer and multi-role fighter. But his decision to spice up a routine air show wasn't appreciated, and he also becomes the fastest to get sacked from the acrobatic team, being redeployed to an operationally ready squadron because its commanding officer believes that his talent with an aircraft shouldn't be gone to waste.

What is probably unheard of if this is done by Hollywood, is to admit that the main protagonist isn't the perfect all rounder he is. It's established early on that Tae-Hoon is the specialist in low flying, so he isn't quite cut out, as scenes would prove, that he's dogfight material. so this means Rain having to step aside and share the limelight with Yu Jun-Sang as Major Lee, who is their squadron's ace. And although the F-15K variant here is obviously the aircraft of choice and the superior fighter in the film, it's a nod toward Korean pride to have its lead fly the FA-50/T-50 Golden Eagle for his final, all important mission that delivered the payload.

The money shot is of course what you've caught a glimpse of in the trailer, where two F-15s are hot on the heels of a MiG-29, or at times, vice versa, as they storm through the skyscape of Seoul. The stunt and visual effects team did a great job to create that urban battle scenario, and yes I'm raving about that cobra maneuver again. Aerial combats in the film are sleekly choreographed, and the brownie points come in watching this in a theatre with optimal sound, because you'll be able to hear the roar of the planes' afterburners when they kick in.

So I guess it's enough on the hardware and the technical aspects of Soar into the Sun, so what about the storyline? It's perfunctory to say the least, with balance achieved in providing the myriad of characters their particular idiosyncrasies and one note role in the narrative. There's the token love interest for Tae-Hoon in Sergeant Se-Young (Shin Se-Kyung), the prettiest and most competent technical ground crew around, her boss and comic relief played by Oh Dal- Su, fellow co-pilot Yoo-Jin (Lee Ha-Na), and the rookie (Lee Jong-Suk) whom I do not know how he'd pass the pilot qualifying tests for his frequent fainting spells when subjected to high G-forces.

Soar into the Sun, also known as R2B: Return to Base, is pure entertainment, where the story didn't really do much, with odd screwball comedy thrown around, it does provide one heck of an adrenaline ride. Rain fans will celebrate at an obligatory scene where their idol appears topless, but the real stars of the film, are the military hardware on display. And this scores from every angle you're seeing this film from. So I'd give it a biased definite recommendation!

The movie presents us with another fighter pilot themed story, a theme that hasn't seen any good work on its regard since Top Gun. The plot served here is quite the average of competition among ace pilots mixed with their on-ground relationships. One thing that makes it's more interesting than others with the fact that this movie uses the inherent war potential between the two Koreas as its finale. But the execution can be deemed too pretentious in my opinion. It's because despite the age and technology is supportive, the plot doesn't seem to be real when it comes to all the technical things about the air combat. For instance, when Tae-hun's jet plunged into the sea after he put off the engine to evade the missile, the plane didn't pierce the water like it should. Rather it looked like it dropped from some five meters or so, bouncing it's way on the water surface. These 'uniqueness' supports the story's continuation about the characters surviving the crashes and so on. But it surely looked stupid for those for understand physics even at the least bit. The acting is a typical Korean work, just enough to have the story to roll on.

Weak storyline, like most aviation film much as to my disappoint this could have gotten a good 7 if the writers thought of a better script. There was too many silly lines that I wonder if this was suppose to be a manga filled humour or a live action film. The thing I found interesting though is the tensed relationship with the Americans and Koreans when dealing with missile crisis, couldn't the writers explore on that more than silly aspect of the film. Poor CGI, while it is understandable that there are parts of the film where real fighter jets cannot be used i.e. city dog fight scenes, I believe that they could have done a better job. The characters, I really don't think the Korean Air force would have allowed impulsive, childish and hot headed pilots into their ranks. And what is with them abusing the engineers. Come on its the military discipline, team work and proper conduct is a big thing there.

Verdict: Disappointing, this film could have done better.