Sports movies, it’s a genre which I’m not a really big fan of. Maybe it is because in general I don’t watch sports either, but in general they are usually movies about and underdog (or a group) who manage, by training hard, to reach a specific goal. Of course this is a generalisation that can be made for other kind of movies as well, but in this case it’s something I don’t gravitate towards.
Take Off is a Korean movie about a team of ski jumpers who have no experience in jumping and who have been brought together to give Korea a chance to host the Olympics. It’s a movie which is very loosely based on real events. The movie was a big success in Korea and was seen at the cinema by almost 8 million people. Enough reason for me to give this movie a chance despite my feelings about the genre.
The setup of this movie reminded me a lot of Cool Runnings. Although the movie is more serious, it does have comedy as well. All the ski jumpers do have experience as skiers, but this is another ball game compared to jumping from a slope, which of course results in some funny moments. The team members have to get to know each other and the facilities they have are very poor.
Cha Hyeon Tae (Ha Jung-Woo) has come from America (according to the film at least as his English is very poor) and is the “hot shot” within the team, he represent the hope of winning. He’s searching for his biological mother (he was adopted as a kid) and therefore his team isn’t his number one priority. The rest of the team resents him and some of them are interested in other things, like hitting on the daughter of the coach.
The team isn’t the strongest that could be formed (one of them even seems to be mentally challenged (Lee Jae-Eung, who plays these types of roles more often).
Take Off offers exactly what you would expect from such a movie. It’s been shot well and the jumping itself is simply stunning to watch. You will be wondering a couple of times if CG shots are used, but this doesn’t take anything away from the excitement. There was a moment where I started to care about the team and I wanted them to succeed. The movie is a bit long (Korean movies often are longer) but has enough entertainment value to keep you watching.
Score: 7
You know when I started reading this I thought instantly of Cool Runnings. And there it was you mentioned it too!!
I will keep an eye out for this. Seems like a silly blast!
Funny to hear you had the same idea on that. As I said it isn’t as funny, but does have funny moments.