Jhe pilots of this so-called Chinese Top Gun are mostly top notch in the sense that they selflessly support Chinese front line troops thanks to the emerging technological superiority of the People’s Republic (which would have made the title less catchy ). Another in the seemingly endless line of Chinese government-sponsored propaganda action films, this one stands out only for its dumb patriotism from its 80s and 90s American counterparts for its lack of any sense of humor. functional.

It’s about the country’s next-generation fighter pilots, but the plot is next-gen: up-and-coming flyboy Lei Yu (Wang Yibo) is snatched from his unit by veteran Zhang Ting (Hu Jun) to join the elite team trying to get “limited data”. at high altitudes of the new stealth aircraft. Apart from a fleeting rivalry with Deng Fang (Yu Yosh), that’s about it. But the drama that interests us unfolds outside the confines of this film, as reflected in Born to Fly’s constant political talk about foreign powers trying to contain China and encroaching on its waters. The prologue features a pair of these incursive badboys who declare, “We can come and go whenever we want.”

False, outlaw! Spurred on by Zhang lecturing them about the country single-handedly returning from post-war strategic inferiority, Lei and his cronies set out to develop cutting-edge technology for the Chinese military – giving the director Liu Xiaoshi the opportunity to do some nervous tricks. -output sequences.

It’s not like Top Gun and the Rambo sequels weren’t also full of the same hot chauvinism, but most importantly, they never forgot the sense of fun. But the attempts at “attitude” here are half-hearted and board-approved: Instructors who mess up must wear a small sweater, while Zhang’s idea of ​​letting recruits run amok is to make dumplings at night around his home.

Plus, it seems to be part of the patriotic action movie’s DNA that the superpower protagonist has to hypocritically portray themselves as the underdog, as Top Gun: Maverick did when taking on fifth-grade Russian-Iranian Sukhois. generation in F18. But, as in the Wolf Warrior Franchise, wandering earth And Battle at Changjin Lake, Chinese blockbusters really excel at this, with the same strain of maudlin masochism on display in Born to Fly. Liu almost manages to speed up how Lei and the instructors push themselves and their planes into something dramatically interesting, but it never gets fired up. In the meantime, it’s less a movie, more a flying foreign policy document.

Born to Fly hits UK cinemas on May 5 and is currently showing in Australian cinemas.