Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Personalized picks at your fingertips

Get the mobile app on iOS and Android

Get the app
Parents' Guide to

Skyfire

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Some peril, violence in volcano eruption disaster movie.

Movie NR 2019 93 minutes
Skyfire Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

See all

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In SKYFIRE, 20 years ago, Xiaomeng lost her mother to an eruption of the Tianhuo volcano as both her parents were there working as volcanologists. Now a volcanologist herself, Xiaomeng works on the island and helps to develop a computer system that can predict volcanic disturbances and therefore save lives by alerting people to danger before the eruption. They work for an international real estate tycoon named Jack Harris, who's turning the island into a luxury hotel and resort with high-end stores, monorails, and an enclosed viewing pad that can descend into the presumed dormant volcano. However, Xiaomeng's estranged father, Li, has returned to warn Xiaomeng and everyone else that a disaster is in the making. Soon, Li's warning proves true, and Tianhuo has erupted again, threatening the lives of the 50,000 people now stranded on the island. Now, Li and Xiaomeng must set aside the traumas and differences of the past and work together to ensure that those trying to escape the island will survive.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Once again, a disaster movie shows us the folly and vanity of mankind in the face of a cruel and indifferent planet. This time, it's Skyfire, and the natural disaster is a volcano. While there are some moments of unintentional amusement -- for instance, an underwater wedding proposal that doesn't exactly go as the aspiring groom had planned, a monorail rescue scene in which characters are literally thrown from one monorail to the next before one of the monorails crashes to the ashen earth -- this Chinese disaster movie adheres to the tried-and-true Michael Bay formula of bombastic everything and absurdly over-the-top dialogue from larger-than-life heroes. There are also too many stock character types and disaster movie tropes to catalog in this short space, but it's enough to know that this lengthy list goes far in making this movie almost impressive in how much they used from so many other movies.

It would all be fine if everything that has been seen in so many movies before was somehow converted into an original movie, but this isn't the case. One could say that it's a victory that the movie doesn't end with the military stopping the volcano by bombing it to death, but it doesn't really change how uninspired this tale of surviving CGI volcanic ash, lava, and rock really is. If you're a fan of disaster movies and want them to be just like all of the ones you have seen before, Skyfire should prove enjoyable. For anyone hoping for more, it's a disappointment.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Skyfire is a "disaster movie." What elements do all disaster movies share? How does this compare to other disaster movies you've seen?

  • Why do you think there's such an appeal to movies in which characters must survive natural disasters?

  • Did you learn anything new about volcanoes? How could you learn more?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended movie lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate