Director: Christian Cantamessa
Writer: Christian Cantamessa, Chris Pasetto (Screenplay)
Starring: Norman Reedus, Djimon Hounsou, Sandrine Holt, Michael Hogan, Steve Burgess
Plot: In the near future, breathable air is nonexistent and two engineers tasked with guarding the last hope for mankind struggle to preserve their own lives while administering to their vital task at hand.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Slow Thriller
Story: Air starts in the future when the world has gone through a war, the remaining people live in a bunker in sleep chambers, engineers Bauer (Reedus) and Cartwright (Hounsou) both awaken on a routine cycle to check the equipment before returning to their chambers, but when a fire causes them to lose one of their chambers, they must work together with the resources they have because in 2 hours their air supply runs out.
As the clock ticks down the two must face moral decisions which involve risks to the fellow the sleepers in their bunker but finding a way for them both to get back to sleep is the most important part and any means necessary.
Thoughts on Air
Characters – Bauer seems to be the most resourceful of the two technicians in the chamber, he plays things safe and makes sure he knows the damage of any effect the men do. Cartwright seems to be the one who is about to lose his mind, he has visions of his wife who makes him make the decisions he does. While it could be argued these two men are meant to be considered the lower lives of the selected neither of them is made out to be the good guy while both find themselves making bad decisions through the film.
Performance – Both Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou are great actors but in this role the two just don’t give their best performances and end up not helping us care about either character.
Story – The story should work, we have the world ending with the only survivors in sleeping pods with two technicians watching over them every so many months or years. The problems here are clear, we have two unlikable characters who while they do take a step back to solve the problem it does just turn into a mindless battle of who will get the upper hand.
Sci-Fi/Thriller – The sci-fi side of the film comes from idea the world has ended and now the few survivors are underground, we are left wondering how the two men could survive with the only one chamber.
Settings – The film is set within the chamber, it shows the unclear feeling of what is outside and the fear of what is happening with no safety in the chamber.
Special Effects – The effects are used well with most being practical until we see the outside world which is as bleak as we are expecting.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – I just didn’t care about the two characters.
Final Thoughts – This is a sci-fi film that we have seen before, we have seen better before but we have seen worse too and lacks the pace we need in the film.
Overall: Disappointing thriller.
Rating
