Pilot Amelia Rennes (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.
“The Aeronauts” is based on Richard Holmes’ 2013 book ‘Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air’ and chronicles the balloon flight that British aeronauts James Glaisher and Henry Coxwell took on September 5th, 1862. That particular trip broke the world flight altitude record as the two men reached 39,000 feet. The film, however, discards Henry Coxwell altogether and replaces him with a fictional female character named Amelia Wren. Why the filmmakers did this nobody knows but I am reviewing the movie as it was presented, not as it should have been.
Scientist James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) and daredevil pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) take to the air in a coal and gas-filled balloon in order to help Glaisher understand weather patterns as he feels that with the right instrument readings, he can predict the weather. All of his colleagues at the Meteorological Society and the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain laugh at him and his intentions but he sets out to prove them wrong. After a grand ceremonial farewell, attended by hundreds of people, Glaisher and Wren take to the air but within minutes, they encounter a huge thunderstorm that almost kills them but they float through it and upwards, enjoying views neither has ever seen before. As they continue to climb, Glaisher frequently measures the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere and then they both become obsessed with breaking the world altitude record but as they inch closer and closer to 39,000 feet, the air becomes so thin it begins to play havoc with each of them and after Glaisher passes out from a lack of oxygen, the balloon continues to climb. Wren quickly realizes that it will maintain its upward trajectory unless she can open the parachute vent, allowing the hot air to escape which will cause the balloon to slowly descend but when she notices the vent is frozen shut, there is only one way to open it and that means having to climb the outside of the balloon. With the air becoming thinner and thinner, Wren must make the perilous trek if she and Glaisher are to return safely to earth.
The majority of “The Aeronauts” takes place in the balloon’s basket where Glaisher and Wren reside during their trip but occasionally, we experience flashbacks that give each character a little backstory and much-needed exposition. With the advancement of special effects and CGI, almost all of the aerial scenes are breathtakingly authentic. There are a few moments where you can tell the actors are performing in front of a green screen but for the most part, they are photo-realistic. The scene where Wren climbs the outside of the balloon at 39,000 feet was filled with nailbiting suspense and even though I am not afraid of heights, every time the camera looked down at Wren as she climbed up, my feet began to tingle, and not in a good way. Felicity Jones carries every shot she is in while poor Eddie Redmayne spends a good portion of the film passed out from hypoxia. Even when he is awake, he looks almost bored but Jones radiates throughout, the weight of the entire movie resting comfortably on her shoulders. Director Tom Harper infuses the film with some genuinely heartfelt moments between our two protagonists as well as some moments of levity but to stop boredom from setting in, we are privy to some thrilling, heart-stopping scenes, like the aforementioned balloon-climbing segment. Historical inaccuracies aside, “The Aeronauts” make for a thrilling and enjoyable 100 minutes.
In Theaters Friday, December 6th and on Prime Video December 20th
