[Review] R2B: Return to Base
The movie made a good start by putting in humor at the first scene. So that made me want to see the rest as it was not the usual army-themed tearjerker. The first half of the movie was hilarious enough to keep you laughing. The funny character of Jeong Tae-Hoon (played by Rain) is the main focus. He makes everybody laugh with his antics.
As for the plot, it is something that really didn't leave an impression. On the first half, Jeong Tae-Hoon gets demoted to a combatant air force, gets interested in a girl, and goes out with her. All the while entertaining the audience with his funny and witty attitude. The second half, it gets serious. An attack from a North Korean Air Force triggers the conflict. That, my friends, is the start of serious army combats and brawls.
The plot is all over the place. It does not have a straight forward story with twists in the end. The attention was diffused among the various characters with no real lead protagonist. This contributed to making the plot muddled and incoherent at certain points. Maybe the main character of the movie was Jeong Tae-Hoon, as he was heavily exposed. However, the story did not revolve on him.
As for the actors, Rain did well here. He could easily bring out a funny face and then a serious one. However, Sin Se-Kyeong's acting was not on par with the other actors. She needs to improve on her facial expressions more. Overall, I can say that the supporting actors were better than the lead characters.
Special effects? The most excellent ones were the air stunts performed by Jeong Tae-Hoon. The missiles were believable! Everything came with boosting sounds! If there is one good thing about this movie, it would be this -convincing visual and sound effects!
This film tries hard to make Rain cool. Well, they succeeded on that, but the price of an uncool plot. On the positive, I did enjoy this film. It was a no-brainer. It had a light and funny mood compared to most army-themed or war movies. What made me finish this movie? One word: Rain.
Ratings:
Plot: 2 stars
Special Effects: 4 stars
Sound Effects: 4 stars
Actors: 3 stars
Promotional Posters/ Creativity: 3 stars
OVERALL: 2.5 STARS
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