Fallout-style sci-fi has lots of humour
The Outer Worlds
Fallout 4 fans will feel immediately at home in the alternate universe of The Outer Worlds.
A mildly steampunk brand of humanity has expanded into space and your nameless citizen makes planetfall on Halcyon, a world of lurid flora, lethal fauna and backwater settlements with problems that need solving.
But despite the similarities, there’s a distinct and appealing flavour to The OuterWorlds. A host of wellrounded companions come to define your time on Halcyon, complementing the variable play style you’ve chosen and underscored by a consistently funny anti-corporate theme.
Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne made for a dynamic duo in 2014’s The Theory of Everything.
Whether the pair could recapture the magic was one of the main selling points for this supposedly biographical drama.
Redmayne’s scientist James Glaisher and Jones’ pilot Amelia Rennes find themselves facing a fight for survival while travelling in a gas balloon.
Londoner Tom Harper has a varied CV behind the camera – flicks Wild Rose and The Woman in Black 2 and episodes of TV shows Misfits and Peaky Blinders.
And he gives it his best shot here, really capturing the dizzying heights and claustrophobia of his lead duo’s environment; although as someone with mild vertigo, it was a bit of a struggle to sit through at times!
Jones and Redmayne are in fine form too – not Theory of Everything great but very charming and endearing.
These positives cannot make up for the fact that The Aeronauts is generic, twee and surprisingly dull.
Based on details found in Richard Holmes’ book Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air, Harper and Jack Thorne’s (Wonder, TV’s Skins) story has caused controversy over its settings and Jones’ fictional character replacing aeronaut Henry Coxwell.
While the latter has clearly been done to introduce a female protagonist – and romantic elements – it makes light of Coxwell and Glaisher’s combined achievements and adds nothing but predictable plot developments.
Other than padding out the running time, I’m not sure why we needed so many flashbacks either; the only time the film grips is when there’s urgency and jeopardy so the last thing we need is constant time-outs that break up the flow.
Despite impressive visuals and Jones and Redmayne’s best efforts, The Aeronauts is a tedious tale that fails to take flight.
For three-quarters of its run-time, Night Hunter is a bog standard, dull retread of plot points and character beats from superior thrillers.
Only a surprise late twist saves it from one-star territory.