martin

Flying

This is going to be a little bit rambly, but I think a movie like this one deserves it. Or to be more exact, not a movie, an ad for boat racing gambling. Because in the end, this is exactly what this thing is - a sponsored ninety-minute ad for a business created by a self-proclaimed proud fascist, war criminal, and supporter of very destructive cult (the Moonies). Here is exactly where my beef with this movie lies. It is sponsored by and exists to promote an organization, created by a terrible human being. One with (at some point, at least) a private army and very strong ties to organized crime. Well, he can't not be, to be honest, with his gambling and ship empire. Also one of the biggest funders for despicable far-right political parties, spending millions on historical revisionism, and other terrible stuff. So, however good a movie sponsored by him or any of his organizations might be, I will always have doubts at the back of my mind. And anyway, this sports idol puff piece isn't all that good at all. It tries to portray speed boating as some kind of a difficult and athletic sport that requires a lot from the people practicing it. Pretty much two-thirds of the runtime are spent trying to convince us. They show the racers living like they are in a boot camp, wearing the same clothes, physically looking incredibly similar. You know, like some kind of super race. Of course, there's pretty much nothing about the gambling part in that sport. As if it's some kind of an addition to the racing, not the main thing why this boat NASCAR exists. Anyway, there's some plot here about an ex-idol who goes into that sport because her father loved it or some other sappy crap like that. And, of course, it turns out that she is the top greatest genius in driving boats in a circle. It might sound vaguely empowering for women, but it isn't in the slightest. I bet the main reason was to get more female bettors or some idol-producer abusive reason.