BORN TO FLY
Directed by: Xiaoshi Liu
Starring: Yibo Wang, Jun Hu. Yosh Yu, Dongyu Zhou
When a couple of American fighter jets infringe on Chinese airspace, fighter pilot Lei Yu is sent to engage. He's skilled enough to scare them off but the skirmish pushes his jet to its limits. He is recruited by Chief Test Pilot Zhang Ting to join his squad of elite pilots engaged in testing the very latest designed engine, the Taishen.
Its not surprise, following the immense success of Top Gun: Maverick that there would be variations on the film from other countries. The Indian movie, FIGHTER, has recently hit cinemas and provides a bombastic sense of patriotism at the expense of Pakistan, portrayed as usual as the film's villains (Maverick, by contrast, was a lot more circumspect about who its antagonist was).
BORN TO FLY starts off very much in the style of both the original Top Gun and Fighter, with an establishing skirmish. Here, the American's are portrayed as arrogant playground bullies throwing their weight around until Lei Yu shows up and subsequently shows them up.
It is after this incident, though, that the film takes a different lane than to what you would expect. Instead of being sent to become even more gung-ho a fighter pilot, Lei Yu is recruited to join a team of test pilots. Lei Yu's skirmish led to his plane's engine stalling and catching fire, and the current engine design isn't a match for the latest generation of fighters. The aim therefore isn't to hone the skills of a handful of pilots, its to level-up all pilots by developing a plane with an engine which can compete with the best of their allies and enemies alike.
Some beats remain the same, of course. Lei Yu develops a rivalry with another pilot, Deng Fan, who keeps marginally beating him in all the tests. There is a shocking, tragic accident at the half-way mark to drive home the dangers the test pilots face (this is squeezed for every sentimental tear). However the overall feel is very different from being a mere Top Gun clone.
There are some exciting set-pieces, involving various out-of-control aircraft, each approached very differently but executed expertly with a mix of genuine aerial photography and CGI work which you barely notice at times. We don't get quite the same level of immersive realism we got in Top Gun: Maverick, but its not far off.
Yibo Wang, who plays Lei Yu, is a rising star in Chine, with a number of prominent roles under his belt as well as a career as a singer/rapper, tv host and professional motorcycle racer. Like Tom Cruise, he is able to make Lei Yu both arroganct and likeable, his failings stepping stones to becoming a better person and a better pilot. Jun Hu meanwhile steals every scene he is in as Lei's mentor, Zhang.
THE VERDICT
Anyone expecting a gung-ho Top Gun clone are going to be disappointed (for that, I recommend the indian film FIGHTER!). However, this is a solid film about young test pilots putting their lives on the line. There are some thrilling sequences but the two dogfights we do get are very CGI heavy.