The Aeronauts (Tom Harper, 2019): UK/USA

Reviewed by Mark Wang. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2019.

What drew me to watch The Aeronauts is the star pair of Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. However, that was the only highlight of the film frankly. 

In the film, weather scientist James Glaisher (played by Redmayne) goes on a scientific journey up in the sky in a balloon to learn about the behaviors of the atmosphere in order to advance the weather science of his day. Glaisher is joined by pilot Amelia Wren (played by Jones) who has helped with the manufacture of the balloon. Glaisher’s other assistant John Trew (played by Himesh Patel) is a rather side character who seems to support Glaisher without any other motivations of his own. 

The film is aided by flashbacks to the background of the characters and their motivations. In such flashbacks, Glaisher is motivated to carry on the dream of his father and his ambition is only amplified by the disdain and condescension of other so-called scientists. For Wren, it is her husband in doing the same dangerous endeavor that compelled her to aid Glaisher as so to finish the task of completing the science. Tom Harper fails to evoke the right performances of actors, making the characters Redmayne and Jones play as very one dimensional in the causes of their motivations. The lacking complexity of characters turned me off soon after the balloon ascended. Finally, the predictable plot (in generic fashion) is the arc of the characters surviving the dangerous task, which does not aid the overall quality of the film. 

In my view, the cinematography of the film is generic. Despite its thrilling visuals, the shots fail to capture the emotions of the characters. It is certainly captivating to see the balloon arise in the few minutes of the film, but the audience is put into an objective stance throughout the film. In addition, the editing and the music of The Aeronauts are standard yet fitting to the genre of conventional adventure films – nothing to write home about, but good enough to carry the emotions of the plot forward.

Truthfully, The Aeronauts is a bore to watch and totally forgettable. Avoid it if you can. But if you must, it will be on Amazon Prime residing among other weak titles that the studio has produced.