Air

The first feature length sojourn of Skybound, the group behind the universally successful Walking Dead comics, TV show and all subsequent run-offs, Air (featuring TWD's very own Norman Reedus) is an at first engaging and tense low budget Sci-fi that sadly descends down a rabbit hole of increasingly uninteresting and questionable scenarios.

First time director Christian Cantamessa (the man who wrote the fantastic video game Red Dead Redemption) certainly hasn't given himself an easy first feature to win out on with Air's plot almost exclusive focusing on the maintenance workers of Djimon Hounsou's Cartwright and Reedus's Bauer, who like his Daryl in TWD is still in need of a long overdue haircut.

Like any film that sets itself around a confined space and a confined cast, say like a Moon or Buried, Air has to fight to keep viewers' attention almost entirely through things not seen and engaging acting and while Hounsou and Reedus share some form of chemistry it's not enough to carry the film potentially ripe idea to levels that could've made Air a must see Sci-Fi yarn.

The central idea that Air basis's itself around of our air supply being tarnished by a range of natural of man-made causes with humankinds last hope a group of Noah's Ark like underground facilities with pods of long term sleeping humans is an interesting one and whilst familiar in many senses does seem somewhat fresh but Cantamessa and his co-writer Chris Pasetto can't wring enough out of their limited budget supply on top notch dialogue to take the idea to fresh places.

Small moments and a quality opening half make Air something more than a non-event but this is certainly a forgettable start of Skybound's foray into Hollywood movies. Cantamessa seems like a young filmmaker with some talent and it'd be great to see him go on with his efforts here while Reedus is lucky he has Daryl to fall back on and poor old Hounsou is still chasing a role of the same quality he found in Blood Diamond and In America.

2 ½ long past due haircuts out of 5

Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou star as two maintenance technicians holed up in an underground bunker after the world above has torn itself apart with nuclear weapons.In this bunker with them in "deep sleep" chambers,are the selected few that hold mankinds hope for the future (scientists/government officials etc).As the air outside is now irradiated and unbreathable,its their job to maintain the chambers and ensure the air in the bunker remains safe until the occupants can be woken up.As clean air is at a premium,Reedus and Hounsou have their own sleep chambers,and must sleep/wake up at timed intervals to ensure the maintenance is continuous.

But all is not well in this "safe" haven.During a wake period,their computer data on the air outside appears false,and something is wrong with one of their sleep chambers.

Sabotage?......or are one or both of them losing their minds?

Air is a dark and claustrophobic movie.The makers did a good job of conveying a sense of being "closed in".The banks of computer screens and and sleep chambers had a very retro look and feel about them which added to the sense of fragility to the world in which theses technicians lived.

The problem was that neither Reedus or Hounsou managed to convey any real sense of fear or concern to the situations at hand.Their acting skills are normally extremely top notch but here just turn in an average performance.And that was a pity because the opportunity was there for these two to really shine (they were the only 2 main characters after all).

All in all this is of those "could have been" movies.It's by no means unwatchable.The production values were high,just a shame it was let let down by the below par acting.

If they had fleshed this out and included more details this could have been a more enjoyable movie. As it stands its left wanting. It does have some good scenes but not enough to make it adequate let alone satisfying.

For a movie called Air, it sure feels tiresomely suffocating. The overall concept is about two men who wake up from stasis sleep to do critical housekeeping on a post-apocalyptic facility. It brings the usual gloomy ambiance and the two actors do possess good acting performance, but the movie is utterly boring. Low on production and very tediously paced, it's almost like a forced prolonged short movie.

Bauer (Norman Reedus) and Cartwright (Djimon Hounsou) work on the ark facility where periodically they would wake up to keep things running. With small cast and setting, the main focus here is the human drama between these two as they troubleshoot any faults in the station while questioning their own sanity.

Plot-wise it's not very complex, there's not much developments or twists, at least not outside the stereotypical sci-fi movies. The back story is told with various clips or narration from both characters, which can feel detached and lackluster at times. Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou have decent on-screen presences, however the material is spread too thinly and they struggle to produce any excitement from the barren plot.

That's the main problem of Air, it simply doesn't have enough gas to keep the momentum going. Note that the runtime is the average ninety minutes for a very small scale movie, furthermore it utilizes repetitive themes for filling. It teases the slightly dysfunctional relationship between the two or what mental problem they may have, but these are basic thriller aspects that don't present much thrill in exception of one or two decent scenes.

While the retro 80s futuristic theme can be intriguing and its two leads are capable, most of the movie feels like extended padding. It probably could've done the same with half the runtime, the rest is merely cumbersome trudge over dystopian gig.

I liked the film, as a performance piece from Reedus and Hounsou, and truly it's not more than that. It's a situational drama. The plot is, in fact, irrelevant. The ending scene that brings closure was already not needed.

That being said, I feel like the script could have been a little more polished. The dialogue and the decisions of the characters sometimes felt a bit fractured, the movie lacks a natural fluidity. Certainly the film could have gained a point if the extra scenes - like the pointless and extra long beginning - would have been cut in favor of character development.

Bottom line: it doesn't deserve such a low rating on IMDb. Cantamessa may not be the best director in the world, but for his first full length movie, he wasn't bad. I felt as if the film was inspired by Moon. It had the same feel, only with two protagonists. And as Moon, the movie could easily have been an episode of a sci-fi anthology. Moon was clearly better, though.