Skyfire (2019)

Last month, the movie “Greenland” was released, and it is an exception to the over-the-top disaster movies. Greenland stars Gerard Butler as well, and although I appreciated that it didn’t stick to the generic template, I doubt that those who watched it expecting an orgy of destruction were pleased. “Skyfire,” however, is a Chinese disaster film that will probably satisfy those who are looking for the action movie tropes. The only issue is that it is completely unoriginal.

The story takes place in Tianhuo, a volcanic island situated off the coast of China. Twenty years ago, a prologue reveals the volcano erupting in a highly fierce manner and extremely quick manner. Among those in peril was volcanologist Li Wentao, who could do nothing but stand in awe as the eruption claimed the life of his wife. The aftermath drove a wedge in Li Wentao’s relationship with his young daughter, Xiaomeng. Now, raising her daughter without her mother’s guidance and love, she is all grown up and working as the vulcanologist lead. Currently, she is overseeing a team that reports to Jack Harris, an Australian businessman depicted by Jason Issacs. Under his leadership, the island was shaped into a luxury resort and theme park for the rich. And yes, as shocking as it sounds, a volcano resort theme park does exist. In his defense, Jack Harris always reassures investors that the volcano will not be active for at least 150 years. To put my personal experience in context, I once rode an out of control roller coaster at Six Flags Great America and haven’t stepped foot there over 40 years, so yeah I get why people are skeptical.

Naturally, Jack shunning Xiaomeng’s claims that the volcano is going to erupt is completely understandable given that he is facing a cash shortage and can’t afford to lose any investors at the moment.

Xiaomeng, with supervisor Jiang (Shi Liang), Wentao, and even some of the investors, is out in the field for more data. But Wentao already knows what is going to happen next, so he came out to take his daughter to safety. And that is the moment where everything starts going higgledy-piggledy. While most investors are making their final rounds of business, they are gruesomely murdered as the fireballs come cascading down directly to where they are. Xiaomeng, walked Wentao, and the remaining investors did not get out soon enough and now have to watch as all of Jack’s hopes are obliterated when fire burns everything down. Even after watching this absolute insanity, if you thought that Taylor’s ‘Champagne Problems’ was the climax of marriage proposals that went wrong, then try imagining what Zhengman (Dou Xiao) had to go through. His underwater proposal to his girlfriend was nothing but horrifying when it started raining and turned into a scene I never want to go through again.

By now, you might have ruled “Skyfire” as a mere copycat of “Dante’s Peak” and “Volcano” (both released in 1997) along with a dash of “Jurassic Park” for good measure. Those that enjoy disaster cinema will have a greater perspective but will still find it forgotten as a copy of “When Time Ran Out”, the movie made by the master of disasters, Irwin Allen, which also had a resort being attacked by a volcano. The film was truly awful, and without a doubt rests among the worst of the genre. However, ‘when I recall it, the moment that co-stars Paul Newman and Jacqueline Bisset are forced to kiss while the volcano erupts, vividly displays the desperation to capture a jaded audience. But it’s too desperate to impress, and in turn has a certain charm.

The latest blockbuster is stunning with powerful visual effects and graphics, but lacks depth and character development. The same as the other films, Holes, The Flight of the Phoenix and Marine in terms of plot and many others. The director Simon West, of other mediocre films, summons Twin Towers destruction dates such as ‘Con Air’ starring ‘The Expendables 2’ which saw an impressive adaptation by Hollywood. Here, the incredibly bad actors outshine the already terrible characters, unable to muster even a hint of enjoyment for the audience.

As for the action scenes, the effects range from moderate practical effects to somewhat dubious CGI, only one captivating moment really engaged me: during a fight scene when people were jumping in between two moving cars.

“Skyfire” is a terribly unoriginal movie. Yet I find it quite innocent and soft-hearted. It’s simple and cartoonish in every way, and contrived to the extent that they tried using an endangered child just to get some tears from people. They didn’t even have to bother attempting to get the audience invested. While this is indeed another bad flick, “Skyfire” is guaranteed to stimulate the viewer keen on zoning out for an hour and a half. The sad truth is that “Skyfire” is not impressive enough to warrant the ticket price at the theater, but maybe different standards will coax other viewers to imagine, Good enough, after renting the lackluster movie from home.

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