WATCH THE SKIES
Starring: Inez Dahl Torhaug, Jesper Barkselius, Sara Shirpey, Eva Melander, Håkan Ehn, and Isabelle Kyed
Director: Victor Danell
KATIE
Watch the Skies is a charming sci-fi adventure with a lot of heart. It’s a genuinely engaging family film that is fun and exciting without being childish, featuring an endearing cast of kooky characters, a retro 80s aesthetic, and a compelling mystery. Although it is slightly overlong, it is mostly well-paced and maintains a sense of suspense and intrigue, and the extraterrestrial enigma takes an unexpected but interesting turn. Notably, this is also the first feature film to be visually dubbed using AI, and I admit I didn’t notice anything that would indicate that fact.
ADRIANO
I think there are moments where Watch the Skies had an almost self-aware nature that felt like more of a cop-out for the familiarity of the film, but otherwise, the film is very enjoyable and sincere. Sometimes it's not about being totally new, but approaching it compassionately and beautifully. Yeah, I’ve seen this found-family sci-fi adventure before, but am I really supposed to not fall for its spell? I found this film engaging and endearing, a combination of factors that can only do one thing: put a big ol' smile on my face.
QUENTIN
Watch the Skies is a charming enough throwback to the days of Amblin family entertainment, with movies like Explorers, E.T., and Flight of the Navigator coming to mind. The dubbing technology, which used AI to make the performers lips match the English dubbing from Swedish language, gets a little wonky at times, but it generally works to cancel out the usual disconnect that comes with dubbing. My only real complaint is that the movie gets confusing in the end with the overly technical and rushed reveals. The journey getting to that point was enjoyable, but it lost me once it went over my head.
