Film Review - The Aeronauts (PG)

Balloon pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) and scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) find themselves in an epic fight for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a gas balloon in the 1860s.

(Summary courtesy of imdb.com )

Based on true events from an amalgam of balloon flights depicted in Richard Holmes' 2013 book "Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air", "The Aeronauts" reunites Redmayne and Jones from the Oscar Winning "The Theory Of Everything" to produce a worthy yet ultimately underwhelming story of a perilous journey to venture above 30,000 feet in a coal gas powered balloon in the name of scientific breakthrough.

All the elements are there - lead female struggling with a tragic past up-against old fashioned mindsets, an ambitious and ridiculed scientists daring to risk it all to prove his theory, the adventure and spectacle of air balloon flight in a time of no safety measures or medical support - this should be engaging and thrilling and powerful, but it's just not really.

From the moment Jones appears on screen rushing out of a horse drawn carriage in a bright period costume that seems more suited to a circus than a brave and renowned balloon pilot, I felt disconnected. The film spends the next five minutes explaining the need for pageantry to draw the crowd and finance the expedition, but there was never anything dramatic or impressive to draw me back from that poor first impression. And the establishment of Jones's character is key to the success of the film, as even though the film is a definite two-hander between she and Redmayne, the main drama and tension is with Jones, both as a pilot attempting to fly higher than anyone else in history at that time and as a women dealing with tragic grief.

It's a golden rule with any film of any genre to clearly establish early-on the main protagonist character and the incredible skill, bravery or experience they have that will make them able to take on the massive obstacles that come their way. For example, action films do this with an early fight or training scene that demonstrates the world class skills the hero will need to beat the bad guy in the unwinnable situation in the next 120 minutes. Nothing like this is ever established for Jones's character. There's nothing to show why she is such an incredible balloon pilot and the only one able to accomplish this death-defying mission. In fact if anything, the film suggests that she's only ever been a support to her late husband who was the real pilot on their flights (even highlighting a picture with the caption "The Aeronaut and his Bride").

So the poor introduction, matched with the lack of support for the character means that it's really hard to invest in her as the all conquering hero of the film.

This is in no way Jones's fault, but it means that when we get to the big hero sequence in the third act where the audience is supposed to be fully engaged, invested and on the edge of their seat, there's just too much emotional heavy lifting for that one scene to accomplish. Instead, it becomes more an exercise where mentally you know the character is fighting horrible circumstances and heroically risking their life, but you just don't feel it in the same way like you do "Apollo 13" (1995) or "Gravity" (2013).

I've only ever directed pretentious student short-films whilst at college and university, so I'm very loathed to criticise directors who have worked hard every day for years to the best of their ability to create a feature film with Oscar winning stars and a cinema release. But it's no surprise that whilst director Tom Harper's credits include undoubtedly quality work on projects such as "This is England '86", "War and Peace" and "Peaky Blinders", it seems no surprise that the vast majority of these credits are in TV and not film.

Whilst their are some thrilling moments and good performances, "The Aeronauts" is ultimately disappointing with the over-riding question of what could have been with the film in potentially more experienced hands.

Rating - 3/5

Thank you for taking the time to read my review of "The Aeronauts". Whether you agree or not, I hope you've enjoyed it all the same.

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