We pause to note that "Sky On Fire" does not in fact take place in the air. There are no planes, nor is there any BASE-jumping, or crazy parachuting, or what have you. Instead, most of the film takes place in or around a skyscraper named Sky One (no relation to the British news network). I hope you have your drink of choice handy, because even I feel thirsty now.
Through it all, there's one basic tenet guiding our sympathies: human life is precious, and the people who finance life-giving research should have their clients' interests at heart. This is a fairly basic concept that's articulated without much grace or ingenuity through a soul-deadeningly messy narrative that has way too many flashbacks, expository info dumps, and other klutzy digressions. A myriad of side-plots distract from the fact that Lam's scenario has no urgency. Ko Yu vows to help Jane no matter what while Ziwan wanders around unencumbered as Wolf and Tang try to track him down. Tingbo tries to protect Jia, and Jia doesn't do anything except upset Wolf and indirectly lead Tang to Ziwan. Some crimes—especially the extensive totaling of unfortunate onlookers' cars—are committed along the way, but they're never reported. The good guys run around, get chased, take a break, then run around some more. Big whoop.
But what about the action scenes, I hear you asking? Surely they go boom real good. Well, yes and no. Many of the action scenes are covered rather than directed. They're only as compelling as they are brutal, like the scene where somebody gets a glass table thrown at them, or the one where a car hits a motorbike which crashes through a building and then smashes into a parked car. This is especially funny when you consider that Tingbo's motto is nakedly spelled out on a piece of calligraphy: "Life is so fragile." As you finish your drink, please note that "fragile" is not a synonym for "precious."
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