Air

Air

Starring Norman Reedus, Djimon Honsou, Sandrine Holt

Directed by Christian Cantamessa

The Story:
After chemical warfare breaks out, the world cannot contain life anymore, as air has become unbreathable.  The government took their best and brightest and placed them in cryogenic hibernation until the world is capable of sustaining life once again.  These privileged people are watched over by two maintenance workers who spend six months of the year in slumber, and awake for two hours to check to make sure everything is functioning normally.

Two of these men, Bauer (Norman Reedus) and Cartwright (Djimon Honsou) have just woken up from one of their sleep cycles to check the machines.  All is normal at first, but then Cartwright's sleep chamber is damaged, and the two have to come up with a plan to fix it before their limited supply of air runs out.  As they search for a plausible solution, the two men begin to descend into madness and suspicion, until it nearly becomes too late for them and the people they're tasked to protect.

The Synopsis:
The preview I saw of "Air" didn't offer much to what it was about, and that intrigued me more.  Most of the time, trailers give way too much information and it makes it the best parts of the movie (the "Minions" movie trailer is a good example of this).  So when it finally came out, I was able to finally view it to understand the concept of the movie.

In the end, it turned out to be a big boring snoozefest.

Movies that focus on one or two main characters can go very well (such as Tom Hanks in "Cast Away") or very bad.  "Air," according to paper, should've been one that ended up well.  It's got a compelling apocalyptic story, two strong leads (Norman Reedus and his insane fandom from "The Walking Dead," and two-time Academy Award nominee Djimon Honsou), and some great set pieces.  Unfortunately, the story is as thin as the air on their surface, and the film relies on recycled conversations between the two actors that become dull after the second outing.

Video game director Christian Cantamessa tries to draw the viewers in with the claustrophobic atmosphere and the hopelessness of what the two main characters are facing, but it becomes all for naught, as both main leads become villains and heroes, depending on the viewer.  There is no set boundaries, and both men seem to do good for the wrong reasons, and wrong for the right ones.  Their choices and actions balance each other out, and ends up with a flatline story that's dead on arrival.

The Summary:
Even though the preview offered a unique story, "Air" ultimately ended up as thin as the unbreathable air on the surface.

The Score: B-