Airborne

CONCEPT: There's a winter storm that has grounded virtually every flight out of England. Except one. A handful of people -- a miserable drunk, a lecherous couple, a foul-mouthed mob boss and his two bodyguards, two unhinged army dudes, a religious leader, a woman on vacation, and an elderly gentleman escorting a precious cargo (among others) -- are allowed onto the only flight that is able to make it ahead of the storm. However, once they are airborne (we have movie title!), it turns out that the storm is the least of their concerns.

It turns out that a lot of hazards await our passengers. The way they are laid out for the audience, they all come across as a little unclear and a lot silly. I mean, I could explain them for you pretty clearly, but the movie is less interested in back story and exposition than it is in trying to establish an atmosphere of uncertainty and chaos. After all, in a mid-air plane, those are the things that create the most suspense and fear. Unfortunately, the movie's characters are so formulaic that they seem far too at home in their roles, and whatever atmosphere of uncertainty there should be is lost in predictable shenanigans.

This is not to say that the movie doesn't try to push its way past predictability. A barely recognizable Mark Hamill (yes, Luke Skywalker) is by far the best player in this drama as an air traffic head honcho on his very last day of duty. His role seems pretty thankless at the start of the film, but he pulls his own by the time the hard rock credits roll. I guessed most of the film's twists up to (and including) the final scene, but although they were, alone, fairly derivative, their intertwining at the conclusion was something I haven't seen before. In other words, the film was like a horror movie you've seen before mixed with a thriller you've seen before. Neither one was particularly unique, but at least I can say I've never watched them both at the same time.

If the script or characters had gone beyond mere caricature, there might be something here to stick with you past the last kernel of popcorn in your bucket. As it is, this is a not particularly bad or good little mix-em-up (definitely not horror, no matter what the trailers or movie poster might suggest) that barely lasts longer than its final scene. It'll make you feel smarter because it's so easy to predict, but there's little doubt it'll leave enough of an impression for you to feel like recommending it to your friends.

This movie had it going on - a weird, unpredictable storyline, just the right amount of dark comedy, and even Mark Hamill - and then it shot itself in the foot. Airborne doesn't just jump the shark - it does cartwheels in the air while jumping the shark. I still think it's a good movie, mainly because it's so different than other films in the horror thriller genre, but it had the potential to earn some measure of cult status. I really don't understand why such a good story had to be ruined by a dumb and unrealistic twist.

This truly is the flight from hell. With unprecedented storms battering all of the UK, we join the cast and crew of the last flight permitted to take off from England. Only a smattering of passengers is left to actually board - and what a motley crew they are - along with some mysterious object in a box marked fragile. So who's on the flight manifest? You have a surly, bigshot jerk and his two henchmen, two veteran soldiers who served in Afghanistan, a very horny young couple, an American geography teacher with a motor mouth, a doctor, a young woman, and a drunk. A few of them may appear pretty normal, but there's a story behind just about all of them. The flight crew isn't exactly top notch, either. One steward and one stewardess are decent folks, but they work with a real witch (well, it rhymes with witch, anyway) and a foreign dude who just shows up saying he's replacing someone else. Meanwhile, Malcolm (an almost unrecognizable Mark Hamill) is back in the airport control room just trying to make it through his last shift before retirement. The last thing he needs is a jet to go rogue, but that's just what happens, of course - although no one could ever imagine the events actually taking place out there above the Atlantic Ocean. The trouble starts when one passenger goes missing. Only one person really seems to care, but things start to unravel as a couple more go missing later on. I won't describe anything that happens - except to say that it's increasingly weird and genuinely unpredictable (and eventually too weird for the movie's own good). Until the big twist, I was really into it and trying to guess how things might play out in the end.

Those with sensitive ears should be aware of the fact that the entire film is filled with profanity. I haven't heard this much cursing since I lived in a college dorm. That doesn't take anything away from the story, though. Some may also be interested in the fact that Mark Hamill stars in this British horror thriller. As I mentioned above, though, I honestly didn't recognize him - not until I went back to see which character Hamill portrayed. Of course, it's been a long time since Luke Skywalker graced the big screen.

I'm giving Airborne four stars because I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of the film; I should probably deduct more than one star for the final twenty-five minutes, but the overall story is still unique enough to set it apart from the hordes of unoriginal thrillers being pumped out every year.

It's a stormy night, and one last plane gets away from a London airport, to head out across the Atlantic with only a few passengers on board. However, it proves to be an unfortunate mix when things start to go wrong, people start to go missing and blood starts to flow... could the mysterious Chinese vase in the hold be anything to do with it?
Ok, so there are two main problems here. Credibility, and budget. When we see the air traffic control centre in the airport, we know there's a problem, with its tiny room and sets all but looking like they will wobble if you lean on them. When a busy London airport is closing down and there aren't hundreds of passengers trying to find somewhere to sleep until their flight can leave, or lining up at airline customer support desks, but only the few people getting on this plane and no-one else, we know there is a problem. Indeed, even the look of the film feels `made for TV'-ish. Even the stars of the movie are actors who are not exactly at their peak - Mark Hamill has a terrific reputation as voice over artist, but when was the last starring role you saw him in that wasn't Star Wars..? And it's a shock to see Julian Glover delivering hammy exposition.. "well, I always thought it was a legend, but the story goes that.." etc. And the effects - there's not many, but when they do appear they're pretty underwhelming. Slightly glowing eyes is not enough to spark terror somehow.
It's a relatively novel idea and I wanted to like it, a good claustrophobic thriller with supernatural element. I relished the build up, and overlooked the absurdity of it and the budget feel, feeling sure the story would suck me in - there are, after all, some decent actors here and it's only on screen for 78 minutes so theoretically should hardly outstay its welcome. Alas, with no support from the scriptwriters or effect artists the actors just don't have enough to chew on. There are some minor surprises along the way, but nothing so notable as to keep your attention from drifting. There is certainly blood, and plenty of it, and you can feel the director trying his hardest to wring some tension out of some scenes to build up to a decent jump... but he doesn't quite pull it off.
It's not exactly that it's an embarrassing effort for anyone involved, but as a thriller or as a supernatural movie, sorry, it just won't fly.