You might think that a remake of a Korean movie (Ditto) that itself was heavily "inspired" by an American film (Frequency) wouldn't have the legs to stand on to produce anything great. And, in this case, you'd be right. Besides the pseudo-time travel gimmick employed, there's really not much to separate Sky of Love from a sea of similar pablum churned out from all corners of the world.

In this version of the tale, Yan (Gigi Leung) and Wen (Ken Zhu) are students attending the same university who start a friendship while chatting on their shortwave radios. But Wen soon surmises that he's talking to Yan even though his radio is unplugged, and he puts together that she's actually speaking to him from 1981. Things get even stranger when the two realize that they have a shared connection that puts a new tinge on their relationship.

Even if you haven't seen Ditto, you'll still probably be able to guess Sky of Love's big twist a mile away, especially since director Teng Hua-Tao spares no expense letting the audience know there's something afoot in foreshadowing it. And, if you don't get what the big deal is after the reveal, he goes back and replays footage to show you why things are the way they are. Teng's hand-holding of the audience further continues via overused tropes of the genre, such as the much dreaded slow-motion montage of people sitting in the rain backed by a syrupy ballad.

Teng's lackadaisical approach also extends to his treatment of the actors. None of them look particularly excited, or even all that interested, to be included in the proceedings, reading their lines with all of the enthusiasm of someone ordering Chinese takeout on a Tuesday afternoon. Oddly, though perhaps at the behest of government censors, Teng does take some time to thrown in some pro-Mainland China propaganda, which ends up being the rancid cherry atop this particularly bland cinematic sundae.

RATING: 4