Reviews

One and Only is packed with inspirational people and moments. It is explosive dance battles, aesthetic scenes, and beautiful cinematography. It is people living their lives the best they can, and then some. It is pushing boundaries, making hard decisions, grabbing opportunities for better or for worse.

Let's start with Chen Shuo who is kind, filial, hard-working, lovable, unintentionally funny, the list goes on. He loves and protects his family fiercely, always lending a helping hand, stretches his precious moments thin, finding time to dedicate to his love of dance.

Wang Yibo is made for dancing, he inspires such joy and pleasure when he dances.

Even Ding Lei's life can provide teachable moments of human conditions and circumstances. The E-Mark dance crew is loyal to a fault, great to see familiar faces if you have watched a season or two of Street Dance of China.

Overall 10 Story 10 Acting/Cast 10 Music 9.5 Rewatch Value 10.

This movie is overflowing with heart, passion, and dedication. The unsung people known as test pilots are so under appreciated. Born to Fly highlights their spirit and determination in their chosen profession, taking on risks to ensure their air force have the best possible equipment to go about their duties.

I love how the director tried to keep it as real as possible (from what I heard in interviews), incorporating anecdotes from real test pilots, showing us glimpses and sacrifices of their lives.

The aerial scenes are breathtaking, so vivid and mesmerizing. I also love how the story takes us through the conditioning and training one would go through to even be considered for a test pilot position in China.

Lei Yu is an eager beaver, going through life fueled by his love of the air. He can be spontaneous to a fault however he more than makes up for it with his intelligence, love of problem solving and drive to succeed. Wang Yibo plays Lei Yu to perfection, injecting his brand of 100% dedication to his chosen craft.

I love the camaraderie between the team and personnel, everyone understood their assignment, gave their all.

This movie is well casted, I especially loved Hu Jun's role as Zhang Ting, he inspires such loyalty.

You will laugh, cry, cheer but most of all, overflow with admiration for a team of dedicated people at the end of this movie.

What a fulfilling movie this was - gorgeous cinematography, top notch cast and crew, brilliant storytelling and amazingly filmed.

Leung Chiu Wai never compromises on his acting quality. He is unrelenting as the indomitable Mr. He. He exudes total professionalism. When you see his name in the cast, you can be assured of stellar performances.

Wang Yibo, where do I even begin? Acting opposite a veteran, gold standard actor like Leung Chiu Wai can intimidate some young actors but not Wang Yibo. He more than held his own, he is the king of micro expressions but I never had a doubt about him since I first discovered him in The Untamed. His Mr. Ye is a force to be reckoned with, he is steel yet shows his completely vulnerable side. Every single expression is not wasted, translating his thoughts and channeling his intentions, present or future. Wang Yibo's future is now, he never stops improving even when he's already so good. He shone so brightly in this movie and I am so looking forward to his other upcoming movies this year.

The fight scene between the two leads was breathtaking and just A+! Brilliantly sequenced, nicely done.

The ladies are just phenomenal, Zhou Xun as Ms. Chen is queen, she's grace and beauty. Zhang Jingyi as Ms. Fang had small but impactful scenes, already loved her acting since Lighter and Princess. Jiang Shuying is gorgeousness herself.

I feel like director, Cheng Er didn't waste any scene, everything has meaning or impact. The food scenes gave a lot of insight into the overall plot. The non-linear narrative was not confusing at all. The end tied everything up nicely. Lastly, if you haven't heard the theme song sung by Wang Yibo, please do check it out, it totally suits the movie's noir vibes.

Am already planning to watch it again, truly time well-spent the first time around!

To me, this is one of those "love it or hate it" movies.

I started watching this movie because I adore Matthew Macfadyen. I note that some reviewers said they also watched it because they liked one of the main actors.

However, even this adoration couldn't carry me through the whole movie. The plots and sub-plots were too bizarre and after 45 minutes, I stopped watching. Then I tried to continue for another 15 minutes but eventually abandoned it altogether. No, I don't want to know what happened to her in the end.

I gave this movie 2 stars, one each for Matthew Macfadyen and the director for trying.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch an episode of Spooks, or maybe Homeland.