Five friends look to fly from New York to Los Angeles during the Christmas holiday season. Problems arise when they discover an unknown disaster on the ground, along with a mysterious passenger onboard who may be able to provide some answers. The pacing is perfect, it never slows down. There is just sufficient enough character development for the three that have a subplot devoted to them, the other two are just short of being stereotypes. Most of the dialogue was believable and apparently flight accurate, though I did at times question whether these characters were just a bit too young to have all of this knowledge. There are times where the dialogue probably could have been improved or perhaps been delivered better by the actors, but it doesn’t detract from it still being entertaining.
The cinematography was exceptional, especially the beautiful exterior scenes in the air. What made it even more impressive is that it was so hard to tell what was done using visual effects. It’s hard to have any type of negative criticism for the overall look of this production, the camera placement and movement was sound, it had perfect lighting and shadows, and was solidly edited. Most of the score sounded like it was lifted from a ‘90s action movie; it literally could have been parts of the score from Face Off or Con Air. There is some stock hip hop and pop music peppered in, which still kind of added to the ‘90s feel.
Barring a few line deliveries, the acting was good. This featured a nice group of young actors who have been established and known for their roles on TV. Each did an admirable job.
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| These coach seats are ridiculous |
The visual effects in this are terrific. There are obviously parts where you know that it contains VFX, but the majority of it is really hard to distinguish. It should be noted that there is a sex scene in the film, in case kids may be potentially watching this, but there is no nudity.
For anyone looking to revisit the ‘90s or are looking for a fast-paced action film, Skybound is worthy of at least giving a chance. It offers far more than most low budget independent pictures, and boasts a well-known cast, wonderful cinematography, and great special effects.
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