Black Eagle aka Soar into the Sun (2012)

Also known as R2B: Return to Base

Director: Dong-won Kim

Starring: Rain, Joon-Sang Yoo, Seong-su Kim

After he performs a dangerous dare-devil stunt at an air show, South Korean Air Force pilot Tae-hun is kicked out of the elite Black Eagles flying team and transferred to a combat unit where he immediately comes into conflict with ace pilot Cheol-hui. He makes friends with the other pilots in the unit and falls in love with the beautiful Se-young, who is in charge of maintenance. When a North Korean MIG fighter threatens, the group engages in a gripping dogfight that leaves one comrade dead and another missing. Cheol-hui and Tae-hun join forces to rescue their missing friend and prevent a catastrophic war. 

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.

In Korean.