"Skywatch" is an American English-language live action short film from 2019, actually this one as released just 3 weeks ago and since then has scored over half a million views on Youtube. Not too shabby. It runs for 9.5 minutes plus another minute minute of credits in the end. The writer and director is Colin Levy, a pretty experienced short film director and actually I have seen his animated film Sintel from almost a decade ago and I really really liked that one. Anyway, this one here is live action, so a bit unusual for a filmmaker to switch from animation to live action. Brad Bird comes to mind of course. But now let us not drift too far away from these 10 minutes here. It is the story of 2 young men hacking into a system to control a drone and pull a prank on somebody. But things get way more critical not much later because they interfere with a really important mission and get into big trouble soon, trouble that puts their lives at risk even when they do not obey the order and run away from those coming to potentially arrest them. One of the boys, the less daring one, is caught quickly and we don#t find out what happens to him. The other one shows courage and keeps trying to get away, which he finally manages thanks to the help of a group of peoplw e have no clue who they are. Many questions stay unanswered in this film. That's why I wrote in the title of my review that this film really can only be the basis for something to follow in the future. Honestly, I must say early on I struggled a bitg with believing these kids are really smart enough to do what they did technically. But that is one of not too many criticisms I have here. The two young actors have been really prolific in their careers given their ages especially. Still the biggest surprise at the very end is the one scene inclusion by Oscar-nominated actor Jude Law. Now where did he come from. And him being in that final scene (apparently an influential figure from the antagonists) is like the biggest cliffhanger ever. If they decide to follow up on this film or maybe make a full feature movie based on it I'd probably watch. I am not really enthusiastic about this one we have here, but it is good enough for a positive recommendation. Go check it out, especially if you like sci-fi and this coming from me (somebody who is not too fond of the genre) means quite something.
5 Reviews
surprising
Kirpianuscus13 December 2019
A well crafted film, in each aspect, from the teenager joke to the gift of the final scenes. A refreshing Sci. Fi,. about consumism and about the consequences of naive teenagers mistakes. And fine technology about a world of deliveries and about politic behind that. So, just beautiful. Sure, especially for the end.
Not a bad Pilot
severedthought-8479626 December 2019
I CAN'T WAIT
bensanders-3067121 December 2019
Standard 'proof of concept' sci-fi short
bob the moo29 August 2020
If I watched fewer short films then maybe I would like proof of concepts more than I do. Such films though tend to be basic, and quite often they are not showing that the story is worth spending longer on, or that there is a massive world to explore, but rather than they can do some cool effects with limited budgets so why not give them more. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but Skywatch is not it, as it has cool shots of drones, a big celeb cameo, a topical element, and some cool threatening scale. What it doesn't offer though is anything in the way of development or depth.
The film is slick enough for what it is, but it is never nothing more than an effects reel. The use of teenagers speaks to a Spielbergian approach, but this too is superficial in its nature and doesn't really deliver anything beyond that and it certainly doesn't deliver anything other than this link to that director. Effects are good, but it is too direct in their use, and there isn't any genuine tension, risk, or thrills. It isn't 'bad' but only because it is so produced, safe, and bland that there is little to elicit a strong feeling either way.
The film is slick enough for what it is, but it is never nothing more than an effects reel. The use of teenagers speaks to a Spielbergian approach, but this too is superficial in its nature and doesn't really deliver anything beyond that and it certainly doesn't deliver anything other than this link to that director. Effects are good, but it is too direct in their use, and there isn't any genuine tension, risk, or thrills. It isn't 'bad' but only because it is so produced, safe, and bland that there is little to elicit a strong feeling either way.
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