Flying drama grounded

Review Action Drama

SOAR INTO THE SUN (PG)

The story: Aerobatic pilot Tae Hun (Rain) is transferred to a combat flying unit after a dangerously unplanned individual air show demonstration. At the new unit, he meets top flier Cheol Hui (Yoo Jun Sang), a man who sticks by the rules, and clearly detests Tae Hun's free-spirited attitude. Tae Hun also meets jet mechanic Se Young (Shin Se Kyung), whom he is quickly infatuated with. Meanwhile, a war is brewing in the background as the North Koreans threaten to attack their kinsmen in the South.

This glossy drama can be summed up as a South Korean version of Tony Scott's Top Gun (1986) - and not just because both are aerial actioners about fighter pilots.

The main character, Tae Hun, is pretty much a rip-off of Maverick, the role that launched Tom Cruise to superstardom.

Like Maverick, Tae Hun is a cocky but brilliant flier who defies orders from above, convinced that his superiors are much too straitlaced.

Eventually, he learns that teamwork is a lot more important than individual skill, a lesson that had also helped Maverick mature as a pilot.

The problem with Rain's portrayal is, he is more cutesy than commanding, pouting and smiling goofily so often that this might as well be a Korean idol TV drama rather than a testosterone-packed movie about fighter pilots readying themselves to prevent a massive war.

Given that this was the last movie the actor- singer made before he joined the army for real in October last year to fulfil his national duty, it turned out to be kind of prescient: Rain, whose real name is Jung Hi Hoon, has since become an "entertainment soldier", according to some reports.

Certainly, Soar Into The Sun is about entertainment than soldiering, and Rain's six-pack abs are displayed in the movie for gratuitous titillation of fans instead of engaged in anything close to military service.

Of course, you can forget about marching and foot drills. What Rain does is walk across the tarmac in cheesy slow-mo while donning oversized sunglasses, as if the army barracks were his catwalk.

There is even the bizarre inclusion of several montages that look like they came straight out of his slick music videos, with him clad in tailored suits and staring off into the distance, set against an awkwardly selected soundtrack of rap songs.

His supporting cast is completely forgettable and an unnecessary subplot about a romance between his two colleagues should have been edited out entirely - nothing should be allowed to rain on Rain's parade.

The North Korean villains have barely enough screen time to register as true menaces, but that is okay since the real menace, for Rain fans, would be to take any kind of attention away from him.

Amid the Rain tribute movie, director Kim Dong Won admirably pieces together computer-generated imagery (CGI) and gorgeous aerial photography to stage a number of thrilling dogfights. The stunningly realistic action scenes are almost enough to temporarily halt this Rain-dance extravaganza.