Con Air

While not as clever or amusing as _The Rock_, which this was apparently an effort to surpass, it certainly delivers the pyrotechnics. Cage, as always, delivers the best performance he can, given the confines of the script, and his best _Raising Arizona_ drawl.

The film's beginning sets a hopeful tone, we see the honorable Cage unjustly imprisoned and preparing to return to his home and the child he has never seen. Meanwhile, the penal system is filling the transport plane which will take Cage to freedom with a cast of the worst criminal psychos behind bars. There is an odd parallel to the beginning of _Stagecoach_ as the plane is loaded with the case of miscreants and a cursory description is given of each criminal. The film has a weakness for hyperbole, each character introduction, each scene, each explosion is meant to top the one before it.

Fortunately, the film does have a real ensemble cast, the full roster of villainous character actors: Malkovich, Rhames, Buscemi, Danny Trejo amongst the cons. The law is Cusack and Colm Meaney and Rachel Ticotin (Total Recall). Even Dave Chapelle is amongst the crooks.

Ultimately, the film maintains too straight a face during the ruckus. If you are going to ask the audience to accept one outrageous improbability after another, you need to keep it amusing. Chappelle keeps it funny while he's on screen but it's not long enough.

Unfortunately, the throttle has only one speed: pedal to the metal. Unlike Woo or McTiernan, who--predictable as they may arguably be--are able to build crescendos and know when to let off the gas, this one keeps on pushing harder and harder until we're feeling a bit catatonic. There is just a terrific amount of pyrotechnics and they use up twice as much powder each time. It never seems to end, which is usually a bad thing for an action movie.

But I shouldn't grouse too much. It is definitely an entertaining diversion, and Cage and Cusack are good in their roles, Colm Meaney is as always amusing. Malkovich and Buscemi are creepy enough but not the flamboyant psychos they could have been. Ironically, Cage has exactly that type of charisma (remember _Kiss of Death_, _Snake Eyes_, _Face Off_) but is forced to be restrain himself as the stolid ex-Army ranger.

Finally: what the HECK does bruckheimer have against Corvettes???

I realise that Con Air is about as far from ground-breaking visionary cinema as you can get—Hell, it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, which speaks volumes about the artistic integrity involved—but as a thrilling slice of slam-bang popcorn action fun, it works a treat.

Nicolas Cage plays Cameron Poe, an honourable army ranger who is sent to a maximum-security federal penitentiary after accidentally killing a man while protecting his pregnant wife (Monica Potter). After serving eight years, Cameron is finally given parole, and scheduled to fly home on a C-123 Jailbird aircraft, along with several other prisoners whose number include evil criminal mastermind Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich) and Poe's likable diabetic cell-mate O'Dell (Mykelti Williamson). Poe's freedom is delayed however, when Cyrus and his equally vile cohorts take over the plane by force, and O'Dell's life is placed in jeopardy...

Unlike The Rock, which was an overly dramatic and rather jingoistic affair, Con Air is pure cartoonish excess from start to finish. To try and analyse the plot or apply logic to proceedings is futile, the script conveniently glossing over details as and when it suits (for example, we never learn what Cage's cell-mate O was jailed for; as a result, he becomes a sympathetic character, when the guy could have been a child killer for all we know!). Director Simon West sure isn't concerned about his film making sense, 'cos he's too busy having the time of his life inflicting maximum damage on everyone and everything in the most spectacular manner possible. In this film, the rules are 'don't just have a car crash when you can drag it behind a plane on a hook for a while before smashing it onto a runway?' and 'Don't just kill a man when you can kill him and then drop his corpse from several thousand feet onto a moving vehicle?'.

It's stuff like this, coupled with a formidable cast and excellent stunts, pyrotechnics and special effects, that elevate Con Air from the ridiculous to the sublime. I give Con Air a rating of 8 delightfully ruthless maniacs out of 10, making it the second best Nicolas Cage action flick of 1997.

Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) is released from the Army Rangers and reunited with his pregnant wife (Monica Potter). He is challenged by 3 drunks outside of a bar and kills one. He is sentenced to 7 to 10 years in prison. He gets paroled and he's hitching a plane ride until his release. The plane has his friend cellmate Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson) as well as many dangerous supermax prisoners on their way to a new prison. Vince Larkin (John Cusack) is overseeing the transfer with DEA wildman Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney) running a sting on a drug lord. Malloy sneaks a gun with his undercover agent onto the plane. Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom (John Malkovich) masterminds an escape plan with Pinball (Dave Chappelle) stealing the keys from Guard Sally Bishop (Rachel Ticotin). Diamond Dog (Ving Rhames) is a militant black prisoner.

This is an over-the-top ridiculous cartoon action thriller. One has to leave all reasonable logic behind. There is a lot of unnecessary overacting by Meaney. With all the great action, the movie should be a lot more thrilling and intense. The jokey irreverent feel makes it less intense. After awhile, it's not about the plot or whether Baby-O gets the help. It's what other ridiculous things are they going to pull. I have to roll my eyes when Steve Buscemi arrives as Hannibal Lecter. However it is so ridiculous that it's kind of fun.

"Con Air" can best be described as "The Rock" in the sky. The film deals with a Gulf War veteran (Nicolas Cage) who becomes a victim of circumstance and is sentenced to eight years in prison. He is going home via a gigantic prison plane which is also carrying some very unsavory characters (John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, and Steve Buscemi among others). Of course the evil prisoners take over the plane and it is up to Cage to save the day. Overall this is a fine action film which keeps its focus on the characters. 4 out of 5 stars.

"Con Air" is just one of those action movies that was great back in the day when it was first out and still holds its own today. And that is even despite the fact that it is a Nicolas Cage movie.

The story is quite straight forward, a plane transporting the most dangerous and deadly of criminals gets hijacked by the very same prisoners it was supposed to transport. Amongst the prisoners is Cameron Poe who is on his way home to his family and tries his best to see to it that it happens.

There is a lot of action in the movie, almost from start to end, and it nicely choreographed and executed. But there is also a lot of really interesting and detailed characters in the movie.

But even more impressively is the ensemble of cast which is nothing short of amazing. And "Con Air" holds some impressive performances by John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi in particular.

"Con Air" has a lot of one-liners, of course, throughout the movie. You can't have a proper action movie without those. And then there is Nicolas Cage's hair, are you kidding me? "Con Air" is well-worth a place in any movie fan's or collector's collection.

I will end my review here, before the bunny gets it...