AIR – The Review

Humanity has almost disappeared.  A biologic weapon has gone viral and wiped out almost all human life on the planet.  Somehow a handful of intelligent, educated people are kept in suspended animation, far underground.  Tended to by a couple of engineers who are also in suspended animation, at 6 month intervals the two engineers are awakened, make sure the sleeping people are kept alive, and then go back to sleep.  During their time awake they have only one hour and 40 minutes of time to check all the systems, tend to the sleepers, take care of their own needs, and then go back to sleep.

But something goes wrong, doesn’t it always in science fiction?  Especially post apocalypse science fiction, of which AIR is just about the most grim and depressing vision of a post collapse landscape I can imagine.

The two engineers are Norman Reedus as Bauer and Djimon Hounsou as Cartwright.  Both are excellent, both men are exhausted, physically and mentally a wreck from being awakened and put back into hyper sleep so many times.  Would this idea actually work?  The concept is that they will tend to the sleepers and make sure they awaken after the biologic plague has dispersed after so many years.  The equipment they use is distressingly low tech, all the computers are DOS, mounted with panels of push buttons, manual switches and rusty looking metal, which make up the hardware.

Think of the hyper sleep of ALIEN and other science fiction movies.  Director Christian Cantamessa’s AIR bears more than a passing resemblance to MOON, an excellent one character (almost) science fiction drama with Sam Rockwell.  Here we have two characters, in a very cramped space, one of whom, Cartwright, is so on edge he sees his girlfriend, Sandrine Holt, who we assume is dead, speaking to him during waking periods.  Think of the ghost characters of SOLARIS (both versions.)

AIR is a complete inversion of post apocalypse movies like MAD MAX, almost devoid of action, Air is character driven.  Instead of a gleaming, high tech future we have a grimy, claustrophobic pressure cooker, with two men just going through the motions until the future members of the human race can be reawakened and set about the task of rebuilding civilization.  And, as they must, systems fail, people betray each other, madness over takes the narrative.

This is not a feel good, happy time movie folks, this is indeed pretty grim and cynical stuff. Co-written by Chris Pasetto and Christian Cantamessa, AIR ends on an optimistic note, but we really get what a sacrifice it was for these men to tend to the sleepers, and put their own life on hold. We get one brief glimpse of the outside world and it is not a pretty sight, no indeed.

Djimon Hounsou is nothing short of astonishing, bringing to life a character that might have confounded lesser actors.

And Norman Reedus?  Apparently Reedus is now the go to guy for this post apocalypse kind of project, after his many seasons on Walking Dead. Has he ever been clean, shaven, with a haircut and clean clothes?  In any movie?

And quite frankly it is a pleasure to see Sandrine Holt again, I have not seen her since Rapa Nui, she who made such an impression in Black Robe.

I give AIR 4 out of 5 stars, it is very well made, with characters and dialog that ring true, but as already stated, this is not super happy fun, by no means.  Be ready with a comedy chaser for afterwards.

AIR is in theaters, On Demand and Digital HD August 14. 

Order here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/air/id1014874786?mt=6&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

The film is rated PG-13.