We are under X because of actor Xueqi Wang
Director: Simon West
Writer: Wei Bu, Sidney King (Screenplay)
Starring: Jason Isaacs, Hannah Quinlivan, Xueqi Wang, Alice Rietveld, Shawn Dou, Liang Shi, Ryun Yu
Plot: Tianhuo Island is as beautiful as a paradise. It almost makes people forget that it is located in the “Ring of Fire” the world-famous Pacific Rim volcanic belt. The volcano erupted, and the fate of the people in the island was entangled.
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Skyfire starts when Meng Li (Quinlivan) is hired to help produce a safety system for Tianhuo Island’s new theme park hotel center around the volcano that killer her mother. Her father Wentao (Wang) doesn’t want her there and believes she is in danger and even with her own concerns billionaire owner Jack Harris (Isaacs) isn’t interested in hearing no.
When the volcano starts erupting, Meng is near the crater, leading to her joining her father and other survivors in a race down the mountain before the main eruption happens.
Thoughts on Skyfire
Characters & Performances – Meng Li is the volcanologist who has returned to study the volcano which killed her mother, looking to prepare the island for a safe opening, using it as a way to deal with the previous loss of her mother. When it erupts she will have to find her way down the mountain before the main explosion, showing her skills in the field as well as on her feet. Hannah Quinlivan does a great job her giving us a character that will be the smartest person in the room. Wentao Li is Meng’s father that is visiting her, believing she is in danger, wanting to make sure she stays safe, using his own history with the volcano to finally rebuild the broken relationship with her. Xueqi Wang gives the great father figure in the film, not being afraid to join in the action either. Jack Harris is the billionaire that is making the tourist theme park, he is trying to keep everything honest, but he does have debts to pay, he does have an arrogant side, but when things go wrong, he does step up to do the right thing. Jason Isaacs gets to have a lot of fun with this role. We do have the typical supporting characters in the film, which will help on the journey down the mountain or be the problem in different situations.
Story – The story here follows the early stages of a volcano theme park hotel which is preparing for the larger investment only for the volcano to start erupting as we follow a group of people needing to get off the island before the main eruption. When it comes to the big disaster movies we know what we need in the story that is a race for survival, this one gives us that with ease. We add in the family drama between father and daughter, both needing to address the previous loss which has changed their lives. This does everything we need in a story, even though it does feel like a larger scale Dante’s Peak.
Themes – Skyfire is a big action movie, with massive action sequences that use the theme park ideas of the island to give us fresh approaches to similar sides, including a monorail track with people needing to jump between along with the typical volcano moments. The effects work for the most part, but we do have moments that you can see the CGI, they will add to the bigger sequences. The island location helps show us how rich people will look to make a profit out of the dangerous side of the world and once the disaster starts, shows us how hard to escape it would be.
Skyfire is a big action disaster movie you can enjoy the high tension race to survive.