Fly, Daddy, Fly (DVD) (Special Edition) (Japan Version) DVD Region 2

The film begins with average salaryman Ga Pil (Lee Moon Shik, recently in the likes of A Bloody Aria and Mapado rushing to the hospital after his young daughter is beaten by the vicious school boxing champ. Unfortunately, since the rich thug is protected by both his well-connected parents and the school authorities, Ga Pil receives only a sneering apology for the heinous act which has left his daughter traumatised. Devastated by this and his own inability to take revenge either physically or through official channels, he begins training under another school fighting expert called Seung Seok (Lee Jun Gi, who became an overnight sensation after his turn in the blockbuster King and The Clown). As he gradually builds himself into a more credible threat to his daughter's tormentor, Ga Pil finds not only a new lease of life, but a surrogate son in the form of his new teacher.

Although Fly, Daddy, Fly does verge on similar territory to a number of other recent Korean films such as Crying Fist and Art of Fighting, it is actually a more thoughtful and almost philosophical affair which is concerned with character development rather than violence. As such, it focuses almost exclusively on protagonist Ga Pil and spends most of the running time charting his personal journey from an out of shape drone who is unable to stand up for himself, let alone his family, to a self confident and far more masculine figure. Thanks in no small part to a great performance from actor Lee Moon Shik, the character is given a real emotional richness which endears him and his all too believable plight to the viewer. As a result the film works well as a Rocky-style tale, not so much of a man becoming a fighter, but managing to shake off the emasculating and soul-crushing shackles of modern middle class life in an almost existential and poetic fashion.

Somewhat less believable is Ga Pil's relationship with effeminate Zen fighter Seung Seok, who is a rather more one-dimensional character. This is not really the fault of actor Lee Jun Gi, and is mainly due to the fact that he is never really fleshed out beyond a few cheap attempts at generating sympathy and brief flashes of his skills with his fists. Thankfully, since the father-son bond is treated only as a subplot, whilst it represents something of a wasted opportunity to add further emotional depth, it never drags down what is essentially a one-man show.

Fly, Daddy, Fly is helped by director Choi's judicious use of comedy, which, aside from a couple of wacky training scenes is largely of the subtle variety rather than the slapstick that might have been expected. This gives the film a spring in its step, and adds to the feel good factor whilst sidestepping the kind of forced gags which might have made the proceedings less affecting. As well as giving the film a positive air, the laughs, in particular Ga Pil's ongoing battle to outrun his usual bus home from work, work well to keep the pace moving along at a good speed, especially since the film features very little in the way of fight scenes until the expected climatic duel.

It's arguably these final scenes which highlight the differences between Fly, Daddy, Fly and other similar efforts, as although they are certainly rousing in the necessary manner, they don't play out in the usual way, aiming for something more substantial than a simple victory in the boxing ring. This is typical of the film as a whole, which succeeds on a number of different levels, working both as a light hearted though engaging piece of entertainment, and as a thoughtful and moving examination of the modern man and father.

by James Mudge - BeyondHollywood.com