Liberty-taking story fails to take flight
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.