Air (2015)

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.

Director:

Christian Cantamessa

Writers:

Christian Cantamessa, Chris Pasetto

Stars:

Norman Reedus, Djimon Hounsou, Sandrine Holt

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Norman Reedus	...	Bauer
Djimon Hounsou	...	Cartwright
Sandrine Holt	...	Abby
Michael Hogan	...	The President
Steve Burgess	...	Sports Commentator
Peter Benson	...	Anchorman
Ryan Beil	...	Male Reporter
Paula Lindberg	...	Female Reporter 1
Sophie Lui	...	Female Reporter 2
David Nykl	...	Sleeper 1
Darren Dolynski	...	Sleeper 2
Jin Sangha	...	Sleeper 3
Klara Rybicka	...	Sleeper 4
Meredith Hama-Brown	...	Sleeper 5
Greg Teasdale	...	Sleeper 6

Storyline

In the near future, breathable air is nonexistent. Virtually all of humanity has disappeared and those chosen to reestablish society reside in a controlled state of suspended animation. Two engineers (Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou) tasked with guarding the last hope for mankind struggle to preserve their own sanity and lives while administering to their vital task at hand.

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Plot Keywords:

post apocalypse | stasis pod | 

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Taglines:

Two men. One task. Save humankind.

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence, language and sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wake Cycle

Company Credits

Production Co:

Automatik, Circle of Confusion, Oddfellows Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this film, Norman Reedus plays the character Bauer. In Pandorum (2009), which also features Reedus, the main character (Ben Foster) is named Bower.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The President: And tonight we embark on the last and most ambitious phase of our campaign to end tyranny across the globe.
Reporter: Mr. President, given the severity of the current crisis, what is the risk to the American population?
The President: Our level of preparedness couldn't be higher. I am confident that we will prevail, what ever may come.

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Connections

References Days of Our Lives (1965)

User Reviews

The main problem of Air is it doesn't have enough gas to keep the momentum going.

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.