The Aeronauts

MOVIE TITLE: The AERONAUTS

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

How can you go wrong with Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones? I absolutely loved them together in The Theory of Everything for which they were both nominated for an Oscar (Eddie won)! They have fantastic chemistry and are both outstanding actors. This movie is loosely inspired by true events and the book called Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air: An Unconventional History of Ballooning by Richard Holmes.

Director Tom Harper gives us an exciting ride as he controls the weather with his shaky cam and closeups. It’s actually one of those movies you really should see on the Big Screen, if possible. The film is being released by Amazon Pictures. Wow, they sure have come a long way from when we used to just buy books from them! Well done!

The story is an astounding one of courage and triumph; although the film is not entirely accurate, completely eliminating Henry Tracey Coxwell, who was the pioneering co-pilot of James Glaisher. Instead, Felicity Jones’ character, Amelia Wren is entirely fictional, although based on a few females aeronauts in the 1800s. If that bothers you, just remember that this is not a documentary.

What’s awesome is that Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones really did fly in a hot air balloon at 8000 feet, just like Glaisher and Coxwell did in 1862!

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Young children will be bored with all of the “talking” scenes, but will enjoy the hot air balloon scenes.
People are in perilous situations.
You see some wounds with blood.
A person falls to his death from a hot air balloon.
No profanity or violence.

THEMES:

“You don’t change the world simply by looking at it. You change it by the way you choose to live in it.” – Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones)
Determination, persistence
Science and the quest for knowledge
Imagination

THINGS I LIKED:

Fantastic special effects that truly make you believe what you’re seeing is real. Those clouds were gorgeous.
The period costumes and set pieces really take you back in time.
The bird’s eye view of the London landscapes were awesome. The cinematography is truly stunning.
It was nice to see Himesh Patel after his captivating performance in Yesterday, although his role is small.
I was genuinely worried about the dog in the first scene and then laughed at how well that represented the entertaining spectacle that English exploration was in the 1800’s.
Beautiful butterfly scene. I looked it up online just to see how accurate that was and some species really do fly that high in the sky.
The film will make you truly appreciate the brave explorers and scientists of the 1800’s who were so determined to discover the world around us and understand how it works.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

If you get vertigo or are afraid of heights, close your eyes or hold on to your seats in the third act!
The scenes that stop to give us the backstory slow down the exciting adventure scenes.
Sometimes it’s hard to understand what everyone is saying.

FUNNY LINES:

“Can you stand?” – Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones)

“I’d rather not.” – James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne)

INTERESTING LINES:

“Doubt is there to be listened to.” – Antonia (Phoebe Fox)
“Is it not our responsibility as scientists to find order in chaos?” – (Eddie Redmayne)
“The sky lies open.” – Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones)

OTHER ADVENTURE MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY THAT ARE TRUE STORIES SET IN THE 1800s:

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